Heartless Being
by Attara
Summary: Love and power are the only things that Aria needs to be happy, but she meets her creator. Then, Yami dies and Aria gives up her throne to the high priest. And even more, Aria's life is a mistake! Can things get any worse? *COMPLETED*
1. Foreign Emotions

Attara: For those of you who have already read this fic before, I have edited several things, by changing Attara's name to Devi and deleting all of "The Orphan" references. Thanks! 

Aria: This is a fic all about me!!

Attara: Well, anyway, I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh!

**

Foreign Emotions

**

I had opened my eyes to two strangers. The female was so excited and immediately called me "Anat." They both talked excitedly, and the male seemed to be disappointed that I was a girl, but he was happy, nevertheless. I woke up. 

My name is Anat. I was granted a considerable amount of magic for the Shadow Game. I love pain. I love magic. And I love the Shadow Game. I am the princess of Daro

After having that dream, it was difficult to go back to sleep, but I dozed off eventually. 

"Wake up, princess!" my nurse called in the morning.

"Ugh, now?" I groaned.

She picked me up and started to dress me. I was barely half-awake when my nurse began to put the make-up on my face. Finally, I awoke when it was breakfast time. I watched as my father prepared for a duel with a challenger of the throne. Of course, I was too young to be able to witness the battle, but my mother could depart from the palace to watch it.

My tutor approached me with a pile of scrolls under his arms. 

"Princess Anat, it is time to do your daily exercises." He reminded.

"Very well, how shall we start?" I asked.

"First with…"

As the hours of learning commenced, still there was no sign of my father.

"Princess, his majesty has said that the duel shall be extended, so you shall not be with family tonight." A messenger informed me after the lessons.

"I see. You may leave."

I am quite used to this sort of delay from my parents. In fact, it would be surprising for them to _not_ come home late from a duel. But this time, there was a feeling of worry in my heart. It made me depressed and not hungry. 

"Princess, would you like to walk in the gardens?" my nurse asked.

"Ah, of course, that has always brightened my day." I thought out loud.

I quickly walked outside of the palace gates and approached the small stream in the garden. I watched while small fish swam up and down the water. As dusk was closing in, I headed toward the center of the land and sat down to watch the sun disappear behind a couple of trees. There was a warm breeze in the air, so I lied down. I closed my eyes and started to think about all sorts of things. 

Ever since I was a little girl, I had always loved nature, so it didn't bother me that I was lying on grass. Just then, I felt another presence in a distance. I knew better than to startle it, in fear that the creature might be malignant. I slowly sat up and turned around. A dark figure darted behind a tree. That was a strange reaction, considering that when most animals are frightened, they freeze for several moments. I walked toward the tree quickly and quietly. Before my prey could respond to my approach, I grabbed its…clothing? Immediately, I flung the human to the ground with strength that even surprised me. I gazed down and saw a pair of dark blue eyes staring back. 

"Who are you?" I asked angrily.

"_I_ am the future high priest of Egypt!" the boy said arrogantly.

I looked at him questioningly.

"Hiko." He muttered.

"That's better." I replied.

I forgot to let go of him when I had hurled him down to the floor, so I let go. He rubbed his arm while glaring at me.

"How dare you do that to me!" he screamed.

"How dare you go on my land without permission?!" I refuted.

"Who are you?"

"I am Princess Anat." I said haughtily. For once, I was proud of my royal status.

"I am training in the priest caste." He said, apparently proud as well.

I rolled my eyes and left him, walking to the spot that I had formerly departed. But the annoyance didn't choose to leave me just yet. He came over to me and poked me on the shoulder.

"You sure don't look like a princess." He said boldly.

"Well, I am, so don't touch me." I muttered.

"What are you doing?" he pestered. 

"Enjoying the evening wind." I answered through my teeth.

"Oh." 

He seemed a little hurt at my attitude, so I started to talk in a gentler tone.

"Do you want to sit with me?" I asked dubiously.

"Okay!" he said eagerly.

He lied down next to me and watched the sparkling stars overhead. I looked up and watched the stars likewise. 

"They're so beautiful." I commented.

"Yes." He said thoughtfully.

"Princess Anat! The king and queen have returned!" my nurse approached me while glancing at Hiko. "Who is this gentleman?" 

"This is Hiko." I introduced.

"Good evening, Hiko." She said shyly.

"Good evening…?" Hiko asked.

"Renas." I answered.

My nurse, Renas, could not take her eyes off of Hiko. But I have to admit that Hiko was quite an attractive boy. Renas wasn't that old, either. She was around my age, just a couple of years older. 

"Come, Renas." I ordered.

"Yes, princess." Renas obeyed.

The two of us walked back, and Renas looked back at Hiko frequently until he was out of sight. I glanced at Renas puzzledly, not quite sure what she felt. I found my father wounded, but he had been victor. Our position in Daro remained unscathed. I hugged my parents gratefully and agreed to eat, since my stress had disappeared from their presence.

That night, I entered my chambers, but I felt the same presence I had detected in the field. I opened my curtains and found Hiko hiding behind with a grin.

"How do you do that?" he asked.

"I'm royalty." I answered, as if it made perfect sense. But he seemed to understand.

"I was about to ask whether or not you are able to come to the market with me. But you're royalty." He saddened.

"That's a problem that's easily solved." I said cheerfully.

I shoved Hiko into a closet and locked him in. I quickly changed into peasant-like clothing. Then, I pulled Hiko back out. 

"Where's Anat?" he asked questioningly.

"It's me!" I smiled.

"Really?" he stood, baffled at my transformation.

"Come on!" 

I dragged Hiko to the window and climbed out. Then I pulled him out of the window and we both ran toward the marketplace. As we reached the center of the village, both of us were breathing heavily.

"Where shall we go?" he asked, offering his arm.

"Do you like the Shadow Game?" I asked with grin and accepted his arm, uncertain of the meaning.

"Sure, but isn't it too painful?" he questioned.

"I love pain." I smiled.

I pulled him once again, but this time towards the forest where my home away from home laid. 

We neared a small clearing where a temple dwelled.

"What's this?" Hiko asked.

"This is where my monsters reside." I replied.

We entered the temple. Hiko revealed a long, gold rod. It glowed brightly and devoured the temple in darkness. We prepared to duel. 

Hiko called forth Saggi the Dark Clown. I raised my eyebrows at his summoning and decided to call the Mystical Elf. She sung a spell while Hiko tried to attack it, but the spell was used and his clown was destroyed. Then, Hiko summoned a Blue Eyes White Dragon. I hadn't ever seen a monster with all of that energy. I called for my Dark Magician. But I was too weak to sustain its life force and I could feel the power overwhelming me, although I could endure the pain for a small amount of time. Hiko grinned mischievously.

"Go Blue Eyes!" He called.

The area around me grew darker than usual. I could feel myself falling to the ground from exhaustion. When my eyes opened again, I was in my bedroom. I found Hiko sitting in a chair next to me. 

"My head hurts." I complained.

"It should." He sighed a breath of relief when he found me conscious.

"How long have I been gone?"

"For several hours." He replied as he glanced at the moon.

"Oh. Well, I guess you can go now, if you want."

"All right." He said reluctantly.

"Bye."

However, right before Hiko left, he quickly came up to me and his lips came in contact with mine. I was bewildered by the action, but Hiko had disappeared into the night.

Attara: I hope you like that story so far!

Aria: I do! Hiko's the best!

Attara: Anyway…don't forget to read and review.


	2. Adaptation

Attara: Here's another fic about Anat/Aria (I'll explain the name change in the next chapter). And another thing, Hiko is Seto, just in case you didn't know.

Aria: All about me!!!

Attara: Right… Anyway, I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh!

Aria: Last time we left off where HIKO gave me a kiss!!

**

Adaptation

**

The kiss opened new doors for me. I had never been exposed to the meaning of love, and now this strange boy had expressed its meaning in a single action. I was scared and curious at the same time. Hiko continuously entered my chambers from that day on. I guess, we got closer. 

That night, I had more trouble going to sleep. I didn't know what to do. The time was nearing when I would get married. I definitely did not want an arranged marriage. Every other princess I knew was having one, but I just did not want my life to be planned out with someone who I don't know and could even possibly hate. It would have no love in it whatsoever, so how would we be happy? I was starting to convince myself that marrying Hiko would be good for my social class. But after lying in my bed for a while, I realized that my father probably wouldn't want me to marry him, considering that many other girls were in love with him as well. After all, being High Priest is the next best thing to Pharaoh. That's another thing I have been assuming: how did I know that he could become High Priest? Of course, I knew he was training in the priest caste, but that wouldn't guarantee anything…unless…but that's beside the point. I decided that if I was going to get married, I'd rather have someone who I know…right? I started to feel my eyes droop from sleepiness.

In the morning, I once again felt someone inside my room. I of course knew who it was.

"Good morning, princess." Hiko said quietly.

"Good morning." I greeted.

He crossed the room to my bed. He smiled softly. Hiko had the deepest blue eyes you'd ever see. His brown hair partially blocked them, so I brushed it away, only to find it coming right back. I giggled a little. Could I really be…? No, I couldn't, I was too young. It wouldn't be right for a princess to feel that way for a stranger. It just wouldn't. _Well, this is an awkward silence._ I had thought at that time.

But I was drowning in my infatuation for this boy before I could prepare for what happened next.

"Princess Anat, it is time for you to get dressed." An all too familiar voice called while my bedroom door opened.

I could hear the breath of horror when her eyes caught sight of Hiko.

"Princess, why is there…a…a…boy in your chambers?!" She gasped.

Hiko turned around. Renas's eyes grew wide as she found the blue eyes staring right back at her. 

"Priest Hiko?" Renas had recognized and started to blush.

"Yes, Renas." Hiko replied.

I was still under my bed covers while all of this occurred, so I slowly pulled them up over my face to avoid the eyes of my nurse, but that didn't seem to be a problem since she seemed so distracted with my…uh…friend. Renas started to glare at me with jealousy. 

"Princess, this is forbidden!" Renas trembled.

"I know, I'm sorry…" I muttered under the covers.

"Princess, get out from under there!" Renas scolded.

I scowled at my nurse before lifting the blankets from my head. My nurse left, but not without glancing at Hiko nervously. 

"She likes you." I observed.

"I know." He murmured.

"Do you like her?" I tested.

"Of course not!" He exclaimed, apparently horrified at the suggestion.

"Okay…"

"Do you want to go now?" He asked.

"All ri--"

Suddenly, the door to my chambers opened… My father entered the room.

"So it is true!" the king of Daro exclaimed.

"But-"

"No buts!"

"Grr!"

"You shall be sent away immediately!" my father ordered Hiko.

"Yes, sire." Hiko mumbled.

Behind the king was none other than Renas. I thought I saw a glimmer of jealousy in her eyes…

Attara: Okay, that's it!!

Aria: Hiko…

Attara: Oh be quiet! By the way, no one reviewed!!! I can't believe it! No one reviewed this fic! Maybe I should change the summary… Anyway, for people who are reading this fic and NOT reviewing, just review ONCE and tell me if this fic is good or not because I might not be continuing it if no one likes it.

Aria: Please read and review!


	3. Two Appellations

Attara: Hi! I've decided to update yet again. And for the people who are wondering where the Yu-Gi-Oh cast is…Hiko _is_ one of the Yu-Gi-Oh cast members…so…

Aria: Now what happens to me?

Attara: You'll see…

Aria: Uh-oh…

Attara: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh, and last time we left off where Renas ratted out Anat/Aria.

**

Two Appellations

**

I cried bitterly into my pillow. How could Renas, my nurse, do that to me? I remembered those days when she was too young to take care of me. We were best friends…_were_…

Cycles later, a strange, white-faced man approached the royal palace. I just seated myself at my father's side. 

"Your sire, I come from the vast sea to be in your presence." The outsider said in a thick accent.

"I see that." My father said curtly. I could tell he was still quite angry at my behavior.

"I entreat you to allow me to study your culture." 

"Of course."

"Thank you, your majesty."

"You may stay in the palace, if you like."

"Thank you."

The outsider glanced at me in speculation and I glared at him, but he soon left the room. I left soon after, not being able to stay in my father's company for long before I felt guilty. Once I had reached the halls, I bumped into none other than the foreigner. 

"How do you do, my princess?" He bowed.

I stared at him for a couple of seconds, not knowing how I should respond, but I soon just pretended to smile.

"Very well, thank you." I hurried along.

"Wait! What is your name?"

"Anat."

"I prefer to name you Aria." 

I stared at him in disbelief. How dare he name me? That was my mother's duty. Besides, "Aria" wasn't even a word in our language! I felt rage inside my soul.

"My name is Anat." I emphasized.

"Excellent, princess."

I growled and bolted out the door. He could be killed for this! But the name "Aria," it sounded so pretty and unique from all of the other girls in Egypt. I was named by a foreigner. 

The next day, the foreigner approached my father once again. 

"I find your culture much impressive." He began.

"Continue." My father urged, obviously pleased with the compliment.

"I wish to study the royal family…"

"Of course."

"Thank you, your majesty."

Immediately, the foreigner neared me. 

"I have chosen to have you as my study of culture." He picked.

"Yes indeed." My father returned.

I stood up indignantly and walked out. However, he followed. 

"Princess Aria, I have news of Priest Hiko." He whispered.

I stopped abruptly.

"What do you know about him?!" 

"He is now the pharaoh's advisor."

"High Priest?"

"Yes."

"And who are you?"

"Ryou."

"Welcome to Daro, Ryou."

"Thank you, princess."

"Come with me."

I grabbed his arm and brought him to my chambers. 

"Tell me all about him!"

"He has had a misfortune, princess."

"And what is it?"

"He…uh…no longer possesses his memory."

"What?!"

"A mystical creature has done something…terrible."

"The Shadow Game?"

"Unfortunately, yes."

"Has the pharaoh done anything?"

"There have been many attempts to revive Priest Hiko's memory, but they have all failed. As you know, the pharaoh's son has created six more millennium items for noble Egyptians."

"Yes, I know."

"I apologize for being the bearer of unpleasant information."

"No need."

"I shall leave you, Princess Anat."

"Call me Aria."

He looked at me and I smiled back weakly. The only reason I've decided to take this name was because the peasants of Daro have often thought of me as a cruel and vengeful individual. It took a lot of courage to notify me with this knowledge, and I respect that…a little. Hours later, Ryou left Daro without a trace.

Aria: Don't forget to read and review!

Attara: Oh! Wait! I think I might as well try to make this story catch up as soon as possible, so I'm going to update the next chapter…later today…maybe.

Aria: If not, it will be tomorrow…right?

Attara: Right!

Aria: And, once again, don't forget to read and review!


	4. Fixed Commitment

Attara: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh. When it starts getting unnecessary to write from Aria's point of view, just tell me and I'll stop. All I wanted was to tell you about her background. Now that that's said, last time we left off where Ryou left Daro "without a trace."

**

Fixed Commitment

**

I was awaken by a being shaken violently by my mother. Her eyes were wide with joy as if something life-changing had occurred. I looked at her suspiciously.

"What happened?" I asked while rubbing my eyes.

"It has been finalized!" She said excitedly.

"What is finalized?!"

"Your wedding!"

She evidently thought that I would have been ecstatic to hear the news. Even if she is my mother, she obviously did not know me very well. It was quite the opposite reaction that I felt appear on my face: horror. Complete and utter horror. I never wanted to marry a stranger! And it was practically impossible that it would have been Hiko, besides, he doesn't know me anymore. My mother didn't even give me enough time to answer since she left the room in a hurry, probably to find my father and celebrate, or something. Oh Ra! Why did this have to happen so soon? I sat in my room, frozen in shock and horror. But of course, my mother had returned, realizing that she had upset me by the news. I scorned her attempts to soothe me since it was really her fault I was in this mess.

"Aria, it's the best thing for you." (My mother started to use my nickname ever since she heard it. She had said that it sounded pretty so got into the habit very quickly.)

"How come? Why can't I have a choice?!"

"Why! That's never even been heard of!"

"I don't care!"

"Please Aria, be reasonable!"

"Reasonable? How is it reasonable to have to marry someone that I have never seen in my life?"

"You are the princess of Daro! It has been arranged ever since you were born."

"And you chose to tell me now?"

"Aria! You will marry the man we have arranged for you next week whether you like it or not. It's not proper to quarrel with your mother."

My mother walked out hurtfully. I hated this so much. I felt betrayed and my hopes were dashed. If only I could wait a little bit longer, then maybe someone might have a cure for Hiko and he'd remember me again… No! I wouldn't think about him any longer. He's out of my life for good, face it. It wasn't that strange that I would scold myself like that since I never really had any close friend that I shared my life with, except for Renas…but she was gone. On the day after Hiko was banned from the village, she had ran away, never to be seen again…that is, until one of the peasants found her corpse in the desert. Now we're getting off track. Anyway… Of course you know that I loved the Shadow Game more than anything else…so, naturally, I decided to duel someone to cheer me up.

Attara: Okay, that's the end of this chapter. I know it might be annoying, but I _really_ don't feel like repeating the duel because I really hate them!

Aria: Hey! You just want to take away my victory!

Attara: Fine then, I'll write it next chapter…

Aria: Hahaha!

Attara: I'm just too nice…

Aria: Don't forget to read and review!


	5. Challenge in Darkness

Attara: Hello, this time I'm going to publish two chapters at once since the duel's so short.

Aria: I am so going to win!

Attara: You don't even get to finish the duel in this one!

Aria: Well, if we did finish, I would've won!

Attara: Just keep thinking that…

Aria: What's that supposed to mean?

Attara: Nothing! Well, last time we left off where Aria finally realizes that she's going to get married! Hahaha! evil laughter

**

Challenge in Darkness

**

I raced into the forest, following the path that I had traveled so many times before. With ever twist and turn, I could feel my monsters calling out to me. I soon found my temple. The stone tablets that held the Shadow creatures surrounded the walls. I was prepared to exit the forest with these stones, until I spotted a masked boy wandering around. This was a strange sight since not many people would come to my forest very often. He seemed to have nothing to do, and he possessed an exceptional amount of tablets as well.

"Do you want to duel me for fun?" I called.

"Hmph, why not?" He turned around.

A golden object glowed through his clothing and the forest was shrouded in blackness. Apparently, we were in the Shadow Realm. We walked to opposite sides, allowing the monsters to attack freely in a wide space. He started the duel.

He first called for the Swordstalker. The purple beast rose from the tablet fearsomely. I quickly sent my Curse of Dragon to eliminate his monster, but a chain restrained my precious beast from the attack. He instantly exterminated my dragon. I held my head in the throbbing pain that I felt from the annihilation. Next, I decided to awake the Magician of Faith… I had a secret plan.

"You have to be kidding! That monster is one of the weakest monsters known to the shadow game! What use will that have?" The stranger taunted.

"Oh no! I summoned the wrong monster!" I sneered.

Immediately, he killed my magician, but the Swordstalker was destroyed right after the attack. My soul was in much more pain now from the impact, but I could still sustain my life force and managed to send a crush virus against my opponent's monster. The boy glared at me as he cringed in pain. He knew the effects of my spell, so he had no choice but to send Silver Fang along with the Moon. I called for my Dark Magician in attempt to defeat the wolf. The boy's eyes grew wide in amazement. I could tell that he knew that only the pharaoh could control the Dark Magician…but here it was, obeying _my_ commands, not the pharaoh's. I recalled the memory that led to this monster to my possession. 

__

It was a very unclear recollection since I was very young, but I could remember some people talking…about marriage. My father was a hard person to work with, so he had demanded for a guarantee that the marriage would go through. Later that day, he showed me the tablet that had a carving of a man in a purple suit holding a long rod. 

The boy broke my thoughts by sending out his own Kuriboh and multiplying it with a spell. Each of those annoying pests populated the field by the thousands. I planned to fast-forward the time in the Shadow Realm by using my Time Wizard. Its roulette spun faster and faster. It was a fifty-fifty chance that it would land on a skull or time machine, but I was willing to risk it. Relieved, the roulette landed on a time machine, which led to having a millennium pass by right before our eyes. My Dark Magician became the Dark Sage while his stupid Kuriboh aged greatly. The boy did something discreetly and ended his turn. I reversed the multiplying, which caused the Kuriboh to be one again. I now realized what the boy was up to, the defense points and attack points were switched, which made my Dark Sage weaker and the Kuriboh stronger, but not strong enough. This would ease the pain once I destroyed his monster. But not enough pain was eased when I attacked the fuzz ball. I could tell by the expression on his face that the pain was unbearable, that is, until a couple of guards ended our duel with some magic.

"Come back to the temple at once. The pharaoh ordered us that you must return immediately!"

"But I'm in the middle of a duel!" the boy answered.

"Either come willingly, or we shall take you by force!" the guards threatened.

"Fine then, I'll come."

The boy reluctantly closed the Shadow Realm. He whispered a "Farewell" to me, and disappeared into the forest with the guards at each of his side.

Attara: Eh-hem?

Aria: Oh yeah! Don't forget to read and review!


	6. Unification

Attara: Like I said, I'm updating again!

Aria: Not now!

Attara: You don't want to get married?

Aria: Be quiet!

Attara: Haha! Well, last time we left off where Aria dueled some weird boy in a mask…but the guards interrupted them before they could finish.

**

Unification

**

Days after my interrupted duel, a messenger informed my mother of grief-inflicting information. At first, she would avoid my questions, but the day before the wedding, my mother finally cracked.

"Aria, your father has been…uh…murdered." She said bitterly.

"What?! How is that possible?"

"A man had slipped past the royal guards in an attempt to kill the pharaoh, but your father had gotten in his way…which was in vain since the barbarian continued with the slaughter that killed the pharaoh."

I remained unemotional while my mother burst into tears. I watched her pitifully, but my heart had grown cold over these years. No, it wasn't because my father had banned Hiko from the village…it was something else. I had never been able to mourn for the dead. They always had an afterlife anyway. But I comfortingly hugged my mother as she sobbed into my shoulder…

"Hurry up, Aria! The wedding starts in three hours!" her mom called.

"I don't want to marry him!" I answered rebelliously.

"Nonsense! You have no choice. You can't cancel on the day you are supposed to be wed. If you don't marry your suitor, I shall disown you!"

"Either way, you won't have me as a burden!"

"Be quiet, Anat!"

"I hate you!"

"…You don't mean that…"

"Yes I do!"

Oops, bad choice of words. Guilt flooded my soul. My mother had lamented over the death of my father, the king…her husband. I was all she had left and my foolish mouth had reminded her of her loneliness. Now is the time to shut up. I told myself then. The maids paid no attention to the argument while they applied make-up onto my face. I glanced at the mirror, seeing no one familiar. I was led out of the house to my future husband's abode. I wasn't exactly "excited" for this event. Who would? Oh well, I had no control over this now. Then, I started to think how he would look like, if he was rich or not. He was most likely a very wealthy person if my parents had it arranged so early. After several minutes, I realized that we were nearing the pharaoh's temple. I started to daydream. I would have a _very_ comfortable life if I was the queen of Egypt. But that would be too good to be true. Beads of sweat ran down my face. Today was hotter than usual, but I still had to wear this heat-trapping mask throughout the village. But I could tell that the sweat was more from anxiousness than heat. Finally, we reached the pharaoh's temple. I was suspecting that he was the groom, which was foreshadowed by the gossiping peasants surrounding the temple. I reluctantly entered. I deliberately walked as slow as I could, even with the fussing of my maids and nurse. I saw at the front there was a contract held by the priest concerning the dowry and conditions. I still couldn't see him. So many stupid people were in the way. But at the altar, he was there. When the ceremony ended, I gave a sigh of relief as they were ushered back to the gardens of the temple where the entrance was heavily guarded. There I could ask for his name, ironically.

"So…what's your name?" I asked.

"My name is Yami." answered the boy.

"Well, my name is Anat, but my friends call me Aria."

"You duel well, Aria."

"So you _are_ the masked boy? Well, you're a very difficult opponent."

Did I ever tell you that my favorite flower was the rose? Well, we happened to run into a rosebush along the way. I stopped down to touch the bud. But I couldn't keep silent for long. 

"What rank do you have here?" I asked after several moments.

"I am…the new pharaoh." Yami answered sadly.

"I am honored, your majesty." 

Soon, the sun was setting and the king led me back to the temple. Dinner was placed in front of us (on a table), so we sat down to replenish our energy. I observed that the servants were posted at the doorway, ready to serve when called. I silently took bites out of the food, until I had the sudden urge to run away…far, far away from here to the place I had called home just that morning. 

Evidently, I acted on that impulse, because I felt my legs carrying me out of the temple and through the desert. They had minds of their own, since they were leading me toward the direction of Daro. Short visions flashed before my eyes. Visions of the past that reminded me of the days where my mother had scolded me so often about wearing my mask to keep out the sand. And even more painful illusions where I found my father working on the royal papers. Sadly, those days were over now. Something struck me down to the earth with lightning speed. I groaned in pain as I realized that my leg had a large gash. I coughed as the sand I sputtered out of my mouth. The pain was unbearable…even more than the pain that I had experienced in the Shadow Realm, which was _a lot_. For several hours, I just laid there, with nothing to do except for moaning in pain…that is until a group of royal guards had to ruin my "fun" by bringing me back to the castle even quicker than I had run away. Life was definitely not going the way I had planned it.

Attara: That was an interesting chapter. 

Aria: I feel the pain!

Attara: Shut up!

Aria: No, you!

Attara: No, you!

Aria: smack

Attara: What did you just do?!

Aria: I don't know…

Attara: I wish I killed you…

Aria: Well you didn't, and you lost your chance…hahahahaha!

Attara: …okay…

Aria: Anyway, don't forget to review! Because I realized that if you got down to here, you probably already read the chapter, so there's no point in saying "read and review" since you already read it.

Attara: sarcastically Oh, please enlighten me with your intellectuality!


	7. Victorious Decisions

Attara: Hello again!

Aria: What happens to me next?

Attara: You'll see… Last time we left off where Aria got married to the pharaoh, and her leg was injured from an animal, or something.

**

Victorious Decisions

**

For many days I stayed in my chambers from the injury. As I felt the pain depart my leg, I found that Yami had a sister named Saka. She was often jealous of her brother since he inherited the throne by being a boy and older, but she never paid any attention to me. There was another person in the royal temple that had stirred many memories that were stashed away in my mind. I found Hiko as Yami's advisor to the throne. But Ryou was right; he didn't remember me at all. This was a great opportunity to start afresh, right? So we became friends, nothing more. 

One day, Priest Hiko had brought in a white-haired man…with pale skin…a foreigner. Could it be? 

"My queen, this man has been caught in the pyramids, robbing the tombs of the great pharaohs of Egypt." Hiko informed.

"Ryou?" I questioned.

"Princess Aria?" Ryou answered

"That's _Queen_ Aria." Hiko practically strangled Ryou.

I looked at Ryou thoughtfully. I had been told that Yami had left the decision up to me, since he knew that I was acquainted with Ryou. Robbing the tombs was a crime punishable by death… I didn't know what came over me.

"He shall be killed at sunrise." I ordered.

"As you wish, my queen." Hiko replied.

Ryou looked at me with wide eyes. I could see that he assumed I would go easy on him…boy was he uninformed of my royal decisions. His eyes then told me something that I had always puzzled over: _it was he who had wiped away Hiko's memory of me_. I had expected myself to be enraged by this confession, but hadn't even given it another thought, and waved my hand to dismiss the criminal. 

This was my first ruling as the queen…and I was still injured. But I was always a strong girl, so why should it change now? I could feel my leg healing with some magic, so I decided to roam the castle, exploring what mysteries it could unfold. I came upon a library filled with many hieroglyphics concerning numerous strategies for the Shadow Game. I studied this daily, hoping to achieve a new level of mastery over my favorite past time. Finally I had studied until not even the most powerful duelists (that had no special rank in the hierarchy of Egypt) were easily defeated by my skills. It was time.

"Your majesty, would you do me the honor of dueling me?" I asked.

"Hmph. I was wondering when you'd ask that." Smirked the pharaoh.

"When would you like to duel?"

"Hmm…follow me."

He led me to a concealed passage from the temple. (The pharaoh was not of age to exit the premises of the temple.) I quickly wrapped a cloth around my face and watched Yami do the same. A desire to be free overwhelmed my soul and I bolted towards the direction of my Shadow Temple. Yami did not catch up for several minutes, but I didn't mind at all. It was good to be home, or at least somewhere near it. 

"Aria, I have a question to ask you." Stated the pharaoh.

"What is it?"

"Why do the two legendary monsters obey your orders?"

"I don't know… They just do, I guess."

"It's a great responsibility to control them, Aria."

"I know, your majesty."

I heard piercing screams in the air. Of course, Yami had to try to be the hero of this panic attack. Someone had opened the Shadow Realm and unleashed a duel monster that was terrorizing the village. How stupid was that? Yami quickly thrust out his hand and something similar to a laser beam shot out of his palm. (Don't ask me why I described it with something that wasn't invented yet. But it's easier to relate to that way.) He then returned to the forest calmly.

"How did you do that?" I asked.

"Look what I have here." Yami pointed to his medallion.

There was an item that had the eye of Horus. It was shaped like a pyramid and was made of pure gold. 

"That's a millennium item!" I gasped.

"Yes it is." Answered the pharaoh.

"Is your soul really part of the item now?"

"Yes it is."

"Doesn't it mean that your soul is immortal?"

"Yes."

"How did you get it?"

"I was the one who created it to make sure that the most talented duelists would be able to come back and seal the monsters in their tablets once more if the creatures were to come out."

"If you have an item, you get powers? Isn't that a little farfetched?"

"Don't you know how the shadow game was created? A dark and cryptic man approached my father and gave him abilities from another realm. My father created this game as a source of entertainment, but the monsters went out of control. That is when I concealed all of them into tablets of stone in order to control these monsters."

"How interesting…What about our duel, your majesty?"

"Ah yes, let's start, shall we?"

We entered the temple and Yami's millennium puzzle transported us to the Shadow Realm, where Yami called for his Summoned Skull. I decided to send my Baby Dragon. He then summoned his Dark Magician. I knew that by using the Time Wizard, I could age my Baby Dragon, but his Dark Magician would become more powerful as well…but I had another plan. 

"Go Summoned Skull, attack the Time Wizard!" Ordered Yami. 

I had chanted a spell that caused a mirror to appear in front of my monster, so the Summoned Skull hit that instead, which caused Yami a lot of pain. I had a Dark Magician of my own, so I called for him and started the Time Roulette on the Time Wizard. It landed on a time machine once again, and a millennium passed in the realm. Now, not only did I have a Dark Sage, like Yami's, but I also had a Thousand-Year Dragon. I combined these monsters to form the Supreme Dark Dragon. This was a definite good head start for me, so why was Yami smiling? Surprisingly, he sent out a Blue Eyes White Dragon and combined that with his Dark Sage. He then chanted a spell that lowered the strength of my monster. He then attacked my Time Wizard, but I had a crush virus concealed that prevented Yami from using any monster that was stronger than the Mystic Clown. He tried to recover by using the Living Arrow to combine the Mammoth Graveyard with my Supreme Dark Dragon. My monster would get weaker every turn. I quickly de-spelled the Living Arrow, so the Mammoth Graveyard stayed separate from my monster. I then killed the Mammoth Graveyard, which accidentally brought the pharaoh to a state of unconsciousness. 

"Oh no! Your majesty, wake up, please!" I panicked.

I opened my pouch and sprinkled some water onto the pharaoh's face and found leaves to protect the wounds. It seemed like days before he started to move. Finally, he opened his eyes in puzzlement.

"You improved greatly…" I said optimistically.

"How long has it been?" He asked while rubbing his head.

"About three hours." I answered with a quick glance toward the sun.

We hurried back to the temple. I didn't see Yami for an hour or so until he entered my chambers that night.

"I have something for you, my queen."

"Really?" I sat up quickly, impatient for the gift.

"Here…"

He took off the ring he had given me on the wedding day and put on another with the eye of Horus engraved on it. I felt powerful magic enter my essence of being.

"Do you feel that rush?" He asked. 

"It's hard not to notice…" I felt a dizziness from the overwhelming power.

"It's from the mysterious man that had confronted my father."

"I have a power? What can I do?"

"It's different than any of the other abilities for the millennium items. My father had given this to me for the queen."

"And what is the power?"

"I am not sure."

"Really?"

"I know that it is the Ring of Anat. It has many powers from the other millennium items and many others that you shall discover on your own. Hmph…my father had wanted the queen to be powerful…in fact…he wanted to see the union…"

"I am truly sorry for your loss." I saddened with the thought of my father.

"Many burglaries have occurred in order to seize the powerful item. It would be much safer if it were to stay in trustworthy hands."

"Thank you, Yami."

"You realize that that was the first time you have said my name?"

"Yes."

I guess that's when it all started…


	8. Life and Death

Attara: Sorry for the late update, but I've seen a lot of other authors update later than this, so it's not really considered too late…

Aria: You just keep on giving yourself excuses…

Attara: Yeah, I do, don't I?

Aria: Mm-hmm.

Attara: Anyway, I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh, and the last chapter was about the duel with Yami and Aria, but Aria won, of course. Then, Yami gave Aria the Ring of Anat, which isn't referring to Aria's real name, but the goddess.

**

Life and Death

**

The next duel that happened wasn't recorded, but so wasn't the last one with Yami. This duel had nothing to do with Duel Monsters, but of the Millennium Items, and my ring. I had gotten the hang of it now. Well, this duel involves Hiko, but it's not what you think. In fact, I didn't have the girlish crush on him anymore (obviously). He had grown much more evil over the years. He had grown greedy and power hungry. An advisor had informed me that Hiko and Yami had dueled once, and Yami had been victor. Of course, Yami had to be kind-hearted and ordered Ryou to erase his memory. The problem was, it would erase the _entire_ memory. In other words, Hiko started from scratch. But he was apparently bound to turn evil once again. That is probably why he had grown greedy enough to challenge me to a magical duel that forced me to give up my precious monster, the Blue Eyes White Dragon. There was a golden beam that came from the rod and it seemed to force me into the Shadow Realm. It was pretty powerful. What am I saying? It was excruciatingly painful, and was _VERY _powerful. And…I lost. No! My favorite monster is gone…in a duel I hadn't even agreed upon. That's how he acquired his third Blue Eyes White Dragon. Hiko even went as far as attempting to claim my ring, but it wouldn't leave its present owner. It even backfired and…uh…erased his memory once again. Big oops. I was starting to think that these magical items could cause brain damage _very_ easily_._

Now it gets a little more teenage-like in my life. I developed another love with none other than my husband. I loved him. It wasn't like Hiko's love. That was just a mere infatuation. This was the real thing that my parents had for each other. _They_ had married out of love, which was probably why my mother was so heartbroken. But let's not get off track. Well, there's nothing much more to say about our "love," but I'm a little uncomfortable about the subject, so let's move on.

Life goes on, and it was nearing the eighteenth year of my life. But a couple of months before the exact date, I saw visions of another life, another place, another realm. It started in varying places, but the end of the dream would always be in front of a mirror. I never knew who it was…who _I_ was. The first time I immediately asked Yami about my ring. 

"Are there premonitions in the millennium items?" I inquired.

"No." He had answered with a raised eyebrow.

"I'm having these dreams that show a different world."

"Really? Are you sure it isn't just your imagination going wild?"

"You're probably right."

Usually, I wouldn't put off anything as coincidental because the gods would often intervene in our lives, but this time was different. Dreams are delicate thoughts that could be influenced by the simplest whimsical notion, unlike many other things in full consciousness. That night I didn't have the dream, so my heart grew calm. I had thought it was over until the day after that. It was the same recurring dream. Now I was worried…so of course I would contact my husband again.

"Well, what is in it?" he investigated.

"It had many people who possessed strange abilities. I had lived in an immense palace and there were many servants that obeyed my every word. They all feared me, but they loved me at the same time. I was the only monarch of this domain. I had incredible power! But every time I look in a mirror, the dream ends."

"Should I ask Shadi to look into your mind?"

"No, that's okay. I don't want anyone to know whatever is happening to me before I do."

The dreams grew clearer with each approaching day toward my birth's anniversary. The day before I grew particularly weary and went to bed early…even before the sun went down. I had expected to see that pestering dream once more, but all I saw was complete and total blackness. After what seemed like hours staring into a dark abyss, a human figure approached me. She looked exactly like me. But she possessed a certain air of dignity and wisdom and yet a form of naïveté at the same time. She glowed with a certain gentle light and peered through my soul with her deep, black eyes. She touched my hand and disappeared. Suddenly, I felt a little crowded, even though I had a whole bed to myself. But it wasn't physical crowding, but a mental one. A soft voice whispered the words _Don't be afraid._ I tried to reply, but I was too scared to even think straight. I felt a power crush my control of my body and the next thing I remember is feeling my eyes open without my will to open them. I heard voices around me and my mouth replied…they all happened without my will.

"My queen, please, I can't help you dress if you move about."

"I can dress myself…"

"But-"

"Who are you?"

"I am your nurse…"

__

Ah, I must have gained my memory… a thought flitted across my mind, but it wasn't mine.

"Well, I can dress myself." My mouth said.

"As you wish, my queen."

My body dressed itself quickly with the strangest clothes I have ever seen. It was definitely not Egyptian. Unsteadily, my body hurried toward the dining room where Yami was awaiting my awakening. I could tell that my husband could notice something strange with my behavior.

"Aria?" He asked.

I wanted to answer, oh so badly, but my mouth didn't move. My body didn't even seem to listen to his words.

"Aria?" He asked again, louder this time.

"Oh, you mean me?"

"You _are _Aria, right?"

__

What happened? Another thought was processed, this time, by me. _I'm your…uh…true life, Aria. _Answered the dominant force of my body. _I just don't understand why your soul is still with me. It's as if your soul is very powerful…_ Continued the thing. _I think it's about the ring I have._ I speculated. _You have a millennium item?_ It asked. _Yes, Yami gave it to me after I beat him at the Shadow Game._ _I think you should start talking before Yami thinks we're retarded. _I worried. _You can take over, Aria._ It thought. 

"Yes, of course I'm Aria!" I hurried.

"Okay…" Yami said slowly.

"So, what's for breakfast?" 

I wanted to make his look of uncertainty disappear, but the thing inside me prevented me from saying anything. I really didn't feel like eating, so I just pretended to finish the food while secretly signaling the servant to take it away. Then, Yami grabbed my hand and brought me…er…us to the royal garden. I found the most beautiful sight I had ever seen: a rose garden filled with the reddest, whitest, and blackest roses you'd ever see. 

"What do you think?" asked Yami.

"It's beautiful! How did you ever manage to get roses in Egypt?!" I replied happily.

I was so excited that I forgot my fear for the being inside me that I asked (in a friendly manner) _Don't you like roses?_ _Oh, I don't like anything… _She answered emotionlessly. Did I do something to anger her?

"I'm a pharaoh, therefore, people worship me. I get what I want. Do you want to walk around?" Yami replied to my question that I had forgotten for a moment.

"Sure, why not?"

Dusk was nearing, so we raced each other back to the royal temple. I entered the dining room only to find that I didn't desire any food at the moment. Okay, this is very weird…

"What's wrong?" asked Yami gravely concerned.

"I just don't feel hungry, that's all."

"But you haven't eaten for six hours!" (_Twenty hours._ I corrected silently.)

"I guess I had a big lunch…"

__

Why aren't I hungry?! I asked the being inside me. _Probably because I don't eat. _She replied. _You probably wouldn't want to go to sleep either… _she added. _What?!_ I was so surprised at her answer. What was she? _It's not my fault!_ She said. Suddenly, she took control of my body.

"I'm going to go to the village…" my mouth sounded.

"Don't you remember? You're not allowed to go past these walls."

"Did I say village? I meant garden."

"Do you want me to come with you?"

"No, that's okay."

"Bye then…"

"Yeah."

__

That was rude. I had thought to myself, but apparently, the being heard my thoughts. _I must get to my realm. _Devi explained. _So you made me get those dreams? _I interrogated. _Yes…_ She said quietly. Once our body reached outside, she teleported out of that dimension. That was the strangest sensation I had ever experienced in my entire life. It felt like your body was going numb with pins and needles. It was somewhat painful, but the being didn't even seem to make a slight expression of pain as I could tell. _Is this where we are supposed to live?_ I wondered. _Yup!_ The spirit replied.

"Clef!" She called.

"Yes, Queen Devi?" he appeared.

"Can you explain this?"

The being named Devi closed our eyes, and split us into two: me and the girl I had seen in my dream this morning. I observed my surroundings, and found everything quite different from my daily environment, but the girl seemed to be quite comfortable here.

"See?" indicated Devi.

"Ah, Aria has control of a millennium item. She has become a very powerful mortal, my queen, so your soul did not entirely take the place of her mortal spirit." (I felt a little mad that I was being referred to as if I wasn't here.)

"Oh, I see."

"But you mustn't stay apart from each other in the mortal realm. Anyone who sees will discover that you are from a different world."

"All right."

She closed her eyes again and I felt myself being sucked into her. How powerful was this being? But for now, all I cared about was Yami and how this queen could affect him. _We better get back soon._ I reminded. _Okay._ Devi teleported out of the place and back where we had left. Luckily, we arrived next to a tree since Yami was just on the other side. She used our legs to reveal her presence.

"Ah, Aria! I have been searching for you!" Yami breathed a sigh of relief.

"Oh, sorry…"

"Shall we go in?"

"Um…okay."

Although our regular routine was to go to the library, Devi didn't know this, so she just headed upstairs. I didn't really mind since it truly didn't expose any harm. She was busy looking for my room and I tried to tell her where it was, but I was too exhausted from the magic she had practiced to even say anything. Just then, I felt a sharp pain inside. I screamed agonizingly. _What's wrong?_ Asked Devi. _I felt a sharp pain in my heart._ I mumbled. _I think something happened to Yami!_ I exclaimed. That was the most sensible thing to assume since I had never had an illness since my leg injury. Devi detected my weakness and ran down the stairs just in time to see a masculine body hovering over the limp form that was my pharaoh's. The unknown man glanced at Devi and his face expressed one of fear as he slowly recognized our face. He disappeared the moment we came down. How many people knew how to do that? I felt my strength returning from adrenaline or something, and I ran over to my husband.

"My poor king! Who could do this to you?"

"Ugh…Aria?"

"Yes?"

"My soul will live on…"

His mortal body died with those beautiful last words.

Attara: So how was that?

Aria: Uh…nice.

Attara: Nice?

Aria: Yeah.

Attara: Don't you love Yami?

Aria: Yeah.

Attara: Then how is his death nice?

Aria: Because I don't know who Devi is.

Attara: Ah, I see. Your brain can't process more than one thought at a time.

Aria: Something like that…

Attara: …Okay… When you don't yell, it's scary.

Aria: Mm-hmm…

Attara: Uh…

Aria: Don't forget to review…


	9. Minute Details

Aria: This chapter is when I explain the details of Queen Devi and Mornedra.

Attara: Yup! I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! By the way, last time we left off where Yami died from a dark, mysterious man…or creature.

**

Minute Details

**

My poor pharaoh had perished by another's hand. I couldn't live any longer. I had to join him in the afterlife, but Devi had ended these thoughts with the reminder that I was not an ordinary mortal any longer, I was the vessel of a queen whose power was so great, a whole realm trembled before her. I found that a bit hard to believe. Although the sad event had placed many people in the state of mourning, a happy, but big, occasion had taken place. Hiko and Saka were to be wed. I was a little surprised myself since Hiko had no memory whatsoever, but if the High Priest of Egypt did not marry, it would be frowned upon by many Egyptians. And since I did not wish to be queen any longer, Saka took that title, and Hiko became the King of Egypt. I didn't mind at all. I don't really know what was the main cause of my death, but I'm pretty sure that misery was one of them. I remember the ugliness that came upon me just weeks after Yami had died and the union of Hiko and Saka. I was slowly pining away for the loss of my beloved Yami. Devi did not seem to care, which was a little hurtful, but I had always remembered the statement she had told me the day that I asked her if she liked roses. "_I don't like anything_." I had puzzled over that for so many times, but it never made sense. I felt my end coming near. It finally arrived. I died in my sleep. There was no dream that day. But the next time I opened my eyes was to watch my funeral. I saw the rituals performed, and the sorcerers chant magical spells on my tomb and decorate it with jewels. I watched as they buried my body with servants in the pyramid where Yami laid as well. While this all occurred, I was hovering above the people, and no one could see me. But after all of this was over, the world around me grew incredibly bright that I had to close my eyes from the blazing light. That's when I saw that castle. Its size was monstrous and I couldn't even see the ends of the wall. Devi greeted me at the door.

"Welcome to my home." She addressed without a smile.

"Uh…thanks."

She watched me as I nervously stepped into the building. 

"Aria, I have a favor to ask." She said suddenly.

"Um, okay." I said, still a little confused about what just happened.

"May I study your actions?"

"What?"

"I must study your reactions toward certain events that occur often."

"O-Okay."

"That's good."

She continued to watch me with analytical eyes throughout the time I was there. I noticed small changes in her behavior as she studied me longer. Now, she would smile and laugh. I could see her frown at certain misunderstandings. But I realized they were all feigned. They were all derived from the investigations of my emotional reactions. Sometimes, I would tell a joke, and she would laugh, but it'd be fake. Although, it did sound quite genuine. Her determination reminded me of me. I had thought she had owned no feeling, but after several threats from opposing forces of Mornedra (which was the "realm" I was in), I realized that she would defend this realm with her entire soul. At least she had her own emotion on one thing. 

I started to lose the memory of my life on earth, but Devi would continually remind me of Yami, since forgetting him was my worst nightmare. I don't know how she did it, but I would have the clearest image of him once she willed it. I had often asked Clef of her past since she seemed so mysterious and didn't bring the subject on by herself. I had thought that she had a horrifying trauma when she was young. That was all I could deduct from her impassive behavior. 

"Queen Devi?" He asked.

"Yes." I confirmed.

"She has a strange history."

"Really?"

"Yes. The place of her birth is unknown, even to her. She was found at an orphanage and was later adopted by one of the tenants. During that time, there was a tyrant of a king. Queen Devi had freed us from his evil grasp."

"Oh."

Then, he closed his eyes and smiled.

"I see that you suppose that her stoic mind has been affected by a mishap in her childhood."

I nodded slowly, perplexed with how he read my mind. He smiled again.

"She chose it." Was all he said.

"How?"

"Magic."

That wasn't the answer I was looking for, but I guess it made sense when you think about it. I thought that I would respect her refusal for expressing emotions, but now she doesn't have the _ability_ to, which is about a million times worse. Now, I pity her. Never able to experience love, happiness…trust. I remembered she was a little reluctant to talk to Yami by herself once she realized that I could instead. I noticed how she would always tell me to take control in the mornings in Egypt while she would just stay quietly in our mind, just thinking. It must feel very lonely not being able to trust someone, but she doesn't feel, so loneliness isn't a very good assumption. But I have to say that she did hide her handicap very well. She attempted to learn how to express those feelings she missed, even if she did give it up intentionally, and she has learned well. I became one of her unofficial advisors in Mornedra. I guess I was the closest thing to her as a friend. Yes, Clef has been with her longer, but I know _everything_ about her personality, if you count the thoughts _protect Mornedra_ and _learn everything possible _as a personality. 

Although her place of birth is unknown, I do know that she was a thousand years old by the time I met her, even if she does look young, like a teenager. But all immortal Mornedraians do not age once they drink a certain potion. Devi endowed upon me the power of immortality and I drank the potion as well, but I got to choose the age I could be, and that was my sweet sixteenth year, the year I married Yami. After all of these potions taken, I discovered that there was no point for Devi to take it. She doesn't have a reflection. It's just like one of those monsters I heard about when I was a child. But she doesn't suck blood and turn into a bat or melt in daylight. However, she _is _immortal. Well, I guess that you have to be immortal if you want to rule a whole entire realm by yourself with all of the "rebels" trying to assassinate you. 

One time, I gathered up the courage to ask Devi about her apathetic behavior. I'm not sure what her exact words were, but she said something about having emotions getting in the way of fair judgment. Watching Devi study me caused me to realize two things: if you have emotions, you are flawed since you act on your emotions, and if you don't have emotions, you are flawed since you can not feel without them. So, no matter what, having or not having emotions will not make you perfect (that was a double negative, but if you just cancel them out, then it'll be more confusing). Devi was different, though, she can act on how a human's supposed to feel in a scene, but still not be able to feel, even if it seems like it. This is just all so confusing. 

After several more years, I asked Devi why she had come to Egypt.

"I experienced a premonition." She had said.

That's when I knew when my life would forever be connected to magic. The essence that brought me to life was magic, the force that gave me a purpose was magic, the energy that kept me alive was magic, and the power that would someday kill me would be magic. But that's all too depressing for now.

I could definitely claim to be the laziest person alive when I was living in the Mornedraian castle. I never did anything except my personal actions. Either the servants or Devi did any task that I have seen. Devi ruled with fairness, just as the lack of feeling promised and the servants did everything. I found that Clef did a lot of advising politically, but that's what advisors are for.

In the morning, I would get up to find clothes already there for me to put on. I was adjusted to Mornedraian clothing now. In fact, I liked it much better than the Egyptian clothes I formerly wore. I would take a shower that was already built into the room I stayed and then, go down to eat breakfast (once Devi and I separated bodies, I began to eat again). The food was excellent, probably because the cook could read minds and found out what my favorite dishes were. Devi had deliberately hired him for me since she herself did not eat. Then, I would amuse myself with various activities. There was always something new for me when I had stayed there. Then, I would eat some more, take another shower, and go to sleep. You'd think it would be boring for me to do this repeatedly for 5,000 years, but it truly wasn't! I had thought I would stay there forever, until Devi had to receive another premonition of Earth. It was just my luck that it was the exact date of the death of Yami.

"Are you all right?" Devi asked that day with feigned sympathy.

"I'm fine." 

"Do you want to be alone?"

"No, that's okay."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes…"

I couldn't blame Devi for not caring. It wasn't one of her numerous abilities. Actually, I envied her for not being able to experience heartbreak. 

"Aria, I just had another vision of the mortal realm. Do you want to come?"

"Okay…"

I couldn't wait to see my native planet and how much change had progressed over five millennia. Egypt probably had changed completely, and I was planning to see it when we visited once again, but Devi reminded me that although the discoveries of the millennium items were in Egypt, the possessors were in some country called Japan. She managed to have us enter the "reserved" body earlier than its eighteenth year of age. 

Excitement flooded my soul as we teleported to a strange dimension. Before, Devi presented me with a potion that allowed me to teleport by myself, and I had already mastered the talent since I had five thousand years to practice, but I had never seen or heard of this dimension before. It had strange boundaries, since I have never seen a dimension with peculiar walls surrounding the land. Devi warned me not to touch them, because I would automatically end up somewhere in another realm, where she couldn't help me since the destinations were randomized and could change the second your pulled in. That was not a very calming thought as I stayed approximately twenty kilometers away from the vortexes. That basically forced me to stay in a five-kilometer radius. I know, I know, this "dimension" is _very_ tiny, but its only use is to warp to other realms without endangering the user's life. 

Attara: Yay! I finally finished a chapter!

Aria: Didn't you just update two days ago?

Attara: And your point is…?

Aria: That you're obsessive. 

Attara: I just want to keep my readers entertained!

Aria: Don't forget to review!


	10. Invigoration

Attara: Welcome back to my fic!

Aria: Hi everybody!

Attara: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! Last time we left off where Aria was stupid enough to stay twenty kilometers away from the barriers of a dimension. This time, the story will not be in Aria's point of view, it will be Liana's, who is a person involved with the story (obviously).

**

Invigoration

**

My name is Liana. Don't ask me what my last name is since I don't know it myself. My earliest memory of life started when I saw a woman…my mother, I think. But I did not see a father until I was much more mature. But it wasn't as if he ran away from his responsibilities. He was my uncle. _He_ was my father figure. But I'm disposing of more information than needed now.

The first memory of her was when we were riding in a car. That was also my last memory. I remember vaguely a speeding driver who crashed into our vehicle. I felt pain and I looked over to my mother in front to see her. I shook her.

"Mommy!" I called.

She didn't answer. I was too young to understand what had happened. I saw people rushing over and taking me out of the car. I didn't want to go anywhere without my mother. I felt a blow to my head. 

My eyes opened to see a man with a worried look on his face. What did I do wrong? His stare was as austere as humanly possible. The man was middle-aged and seemed to be well off in life. I looked around and saw a place I had never seen before. It was huge. I had obscure memories of life with my mother and that we lived in a tiny apartment in the city of Tokyo. Now, I didn't know where I was. 

The man handed me some clothing.

"Did you start school yet?" he asked me in a gruff voice.

"I'm in pre-school." I whispered.

"You'll have none of that public school nonsense here! You will be tutored by a professor and you will work hard everyday."

He didn't even give me a chance to answer as he quickly walked away. Everything about him was frightening. I couldn't talk in a normal voice around him. It would always come out too low or whispered. He gave me the creeps. I learned to call him Uncle since he was my mother's brother, as I learned later. 

That day, I found another stern-looking man in the mansion. He carried a lot of books under his arms and kept a scowl on his face. If it was possible, this guy was creepier than the last one. 

"Today, we're going to learn how to add and subtract." He ordered.

I was only in pre-school! Even kindergartners didn't learn that yet! But I think it would be too horrible to face him if I defied his orders, so I just listened to him drone on and on about the numbers and what they mean. I think I did pretty well for the first day of pure suffering. I learned how to add double digits already! I had thought that after understanding that much information, the day would be over, but that was completely miscalculated. Then, I had to learn some vocabulary words in reading and discuss the various aspects of certain rhymes and stories. I think he was starting to forget I was a four-year old child who did not understand the extensive statements he spoke as he interpreted the details of "Mary Had a Little Lamb" into his own rendering. I listened to him discuss the stupid rhyme as symbols of various tests of life, one of them was that the lamb symbolized the student, and Mary as the teacher. Maybe he was attempting to make me become Mary. In one day I achieved the ability to consider minuscule details as the embodiment of a larger idea. For me, that was an excellent triumph, but for the rest of my life, he pushed me so much harder than that first day.

My uncle was a very mysterious man. He would talk very little in social groups, but he constantly made speeches in front of his employees in his company. I'm not too sure what he manufactured, but I think it was pretty successful considering how much money he obtained.

I was about fourteen years old when I began to know my uncle. Usually, the servants would do all the work, and the tutor took the rest of my time, so we rarely saw each other. I found him in the library one day. He seemed to just be staring into the fireplace. I would do that often, but only when the fire was lit. This time, it was not. 

"Uncle?" I called.

"Yes, Liana?"

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"You can tell me."

After all of these years, I grew less and less afraid of him. I even became bold enough to question his life, not that the questions were answered.

"I am ill." He said bitterly.

"With what?"

"Cancer."

A single tear rolled down his face.

"Are you apprehensive of death?" I asked.

"No, Liana."

"Are you apprehensive of the pain?"

"No."

"Then what's so contrite for this disease?"

"You."

I didn't know he cared! After all these years, I had always assumed he hated me and thought of me as a burden he had to carry just because his sister was my mother. 

"You can't live alone. I have no relatives to leave you with." He reflected out loud.

"I can live by myself!" I volunteered.

"By yourself? That's a bit hazardous for a young girl whose worth is a couple hundred million dollars."

"I can live by myself."

"No, you must have a guardian, or someone to watch you."

"The servants?"

"Someone who is not on our payroll."

"Everyone is."

"Ah-ha! Gozaburo Kaiba can be your guardian! But he already has adopted two sons…"

"What about my fish?"

"Nonsense! I am preparing to marry you to one of his sons."

"I'd prefer the fish…"

"If my memory serves me correctly, I believe that Seto Kaiba is the elder son."

"Eldest is the best…"

"You will marry Seto Kaiba."

"Convincing him is the hard part."

"Yes, but you are a very persuasive young lady, Liana." He winked at me.

Funny how life seems to plan itself out, or actually, your uncle does it for you. I didn't really mind. It wasn't as if I was planning to marry someone any time soon. Besides, my uncle said that I could divorce Seto the moment I was able to live for myself. I didn't care.

My uncle became weaker and weaker. The strong man that I had once seen had become that feeble man who could not leave the bed. But I was a good niece and sat beside him everyday for at least three hours for the rest of his tormented life. On the last day, he reminded me of the promise I made. It was as if he knew it was his final moment in this world. I'm pretty sure that he died in his sleep since his face did not seem as if it were in convulsions seconds before he died, and I'm glad for that. But this was also the time I was dreading. Now I had to go marry some stranger when I was merely fifteen years old. Life's obstacles are extraordinarily troublesome. 

Attara: How was that?

Aria: Interesting.

Attara: Of course! Why wouldn't it be?

Aria: Uh…yeah…

Attara: Well…?

Aria: Oh yeah, don't forget to review!


	11. Potent Wedded Bliss

Attara: I'm ba-ack!

Aria: I knew your absence was too good to be true.

Attara: If I wasn't here, you aren't here either!

Aria: Someone else will write about me…right?

Attara: Ha! You wish!

Aria: Of course, I'm the sweetest girl in the world!

Attara: You're supposed to be DEAD!

Aria: You know what? You just keep on depressing me with all this "dead" stuff…

Attara: raises eyebrows Anyway, I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! Last time we left off where Liana's uncle died.

**

Potent Wedded Bliss

**

It was rainy that day, just like how all funerals are supposed to be. The black coffin was solemnly lifted from the limousine. I watched the casket lower into the whole in the mud. Unwanted tears rolled down my cheeks. I had never felt for anyone what I felt for my uncle. 

A considerable amount of people had shown up for the ceremony. Many of whom were on my uncle's payroll. No relatives, no friends. Just me. I didn't care. From that moment on, I decided to shut everyone out of my heart.

The day after, I rushed to Kaiba Corporations. No matter how I felt about our young age and inexperience to get married, I must follow a departed soul's wishes. I entered the elevator and rose to the top floor.

"Ma'am, this floor is restricted!" A voice called to me as I stepped out.

"I just need to see Seto Kaiba!" I answered quickly.

"Master Kaiba isn't in here."

"Oh…okay. Thank you."

I scrambled for the elevator button and reached the bottom floor. _Oh great… Where else could he be?_ I wondered. I looked through schools, malls, Kaiba Land, checked the company again, game shops, the museum, everywhere, but I couldn't find him. I gave up for the day and walked to the park. And there, I saw him. He was watching a dark-haired boy. He probably was Mokuba. I remembered that I heard in the news that Pegasus had kidnapped him once. But Seto did manage to bring him back…or at least attempted. 

I walked closer to Seto Kaiba.

"Seto Kaiba?" I asked.

"What do you want?" He answered gruffly.

"I'm here with…"

I shoved my hand into my suitcase and retrieved an envelope containing a marriage contract. I showed it to him.

"Are you crazy? I don't even know your name!" He cried out.

"Liana." I muttered.

"That's still not enough!"

"Why? Do you plan on marrying someone else anytime soon?"

"It's not a question of why wouldn't I marry, but why will I marry!"

"My uncle wants to protect me."

"I don't care about your stupid uncle!"

Tsk, tsk, tsk… Bad choice of words! I put him in a headlock and forced him to sign the papers. I know it wasn't very ladylike to be forcing someone into marriage, but it was my uncle's will, and therefore, it must be done. I felt him attempting to shove me off, but my days as the niece of a very wealthy man had forced me into training among one of the most experienced fighters in the world. This prevented me from budging at all. But he was physically fit, too, so, seconds later, I flew to the ground. Ouch!

"Who do you think you are?!" he glared.

"Liana." I repeated.

"I will never marry you! Can you get that into your thick skull?"

I smiled and turned around in order to face Mokuba. I turned back to Seto. His eyes widened.

"Don't even think about touching Mokuba." He snarled.

"Me? Why would I think about it?" I asked innocently.

"Stay away from him!"

"I wouldn't touch him…unless I _needed_ something…"

Another growl.

"Are you trying to communicate with your fellow dogs…Joey?" I cracked.

"You touch Mokuba, and you will wish you were never born!"

"The same threats you imposed on Pegasus?"

"Don't you ever shut up?!"

"Only when I'm not trying to negotiate."

I took one step toward his younger brother. I smirked as I heard another growl. This time, I ignored it and took a second step. I felt that he was ready to lunge the moment I came in arm's length of his little brother. But I am an intelligent girl, and I choose to use my intelligence. Therefore, I tackled Mokuba to the ground. I made certain to not harm Mokuba. Nevertheless, he gave a slight yelp, but other than that, he was silent. Seto fell to the area I had formerly been stationed. I watched patronizingly as he quickly stood up, brushing the dirt off of his blue jacket. He leaped toward me once again. I moved slightly as he desperately groped for Mokuba's clothing. I cackled. Then, I realized I had dropped the papers when I had tackled his younger brother. Seto turned around and grabbed the dropped papers. Did he think I would make the trade? I could always obtain copies. I clutched Mokuba even tighter. Seto winced as he saw my grip tighten. He reached into his pocket and produced a pen with the words "Seto Kaiba" engraved at the side. 

So, Seto hesitantly wrote his name onto the contract and returned the papers to me. 

Then, my legs gave from under me. My energy was being drained from my body. That's where I am now. Everything is black. Now, I see a peek of light in the darkness. Two identical girls approach me. One has a different atmosphere of respect than the other… One is expressionless. The other is sad. The apathetic girl touched my hand. Now the light is blinding.

Attara: Okay, that's the end of Liana's point of view because, well, she's dead! Next is Aria's. Yes, yes I know that Devi killed people, but only…uh…twice?!

Aria: Tsk, tsk, tsk, and she's supposed to be a good, pure person.

Attara: Liana's not even real! Devi conjured her up somehow!

Aria: Is she pretending to be a _god_?!

Attara: No, she's not!

Aria: Sure she isn't… says suspiciously with shifty eyes

Attara: Oh, be quiet. You don't even know what you're talking about!

Aria: Sure…whatever… I'll get you some day! By the way, don't forget to review!


	12. Interesting Reminders

Attara: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh and…never will. Last time we left off where Liana died! By the way, this is in Aria's point of view.

**

Interesting Reminders

**__

I was finally back to Earth, but it seemed all too strange to me. I guess civilization does progress quickly when warranted, since it definitely did not look like my homeland to me. I laughed as I heard Devi grumbling about how early these humans committed to marriage. _Aria! I'm married again! It's like I can't get into the mortal realm without being married to someone first._ Devi said as she realized Liana's age. _It sure does look like it, doesn't it?_ I answered. Devi looked up to see a boy with blue eyes and brown hair watching us suspiciously.

"And your name is…?" Devi asked.

"Seto Kaiba."

__

Oh great. Now there's another question added to the list, Aria! Do you know whom Seto Kaiba is? Devi complained. _I don't know… I wasn't really paying attention when we were between dimensions._ I replied sheepishly. _That makes two of us._ Devi sighed. _I think we shouldn't do that anymore…_ She continued. _Me neither._ I agreed. 

"So…how was your day?" I could tell Devi was trying to get as much information as needed from this "Seto Kaiba."

"Fine."

"Hmmm…"

__

Do you think he will die soon? Devi wondered. _Devi! That's a mean thing to ask!_ I scolded playfully. _I just want to know whether or not I should tell him about us._ Devi explained. _He looks like a healthy teenager, so I think that he might live longer than Yami…_ I whispered. 

"Seto, how old are you?"

"Fifteen, why?"

"I just wanted to know that for my present for you…" I almost laughed out loud when I heard that poor excuse for an excuse.

"Our marriage isn't a big deal."

__

So he's our husband, eh Devi? I teased. _Be quiet._ Devi grinned. 

"What do you think of our relationship?" Devi interrogated further.

"I don't know you that well." This wasn't going very well. None of us knew who Devi and I were.

"I see."

__

Do you by any chance know where we live? Devi asked. _I think that we are rich._ I guessed, not entirely sure whose soul we had removed. _We definitely need to pay more attention to our substitute lives._ Devi commented. _Definitely._ I said.

"Can you walk me home?" Devi asked desperately.

"I don't know where you live."

__

This is getting really pathetic. Devi commented. _Maybe we should tell him about us?_ I suggested.

"I have something to tell you, Seto." Devi decided.

"What is it?"

"I have…" Why was she stalling?

"What?"

"Uh…"

"Yes?"

"Um…amnesia." WHAT?! That's not what she has!

"That might explain why you asked so many questions. But how could you know that?" Yeah, how _could_ she know that?

"I don't know, dumb luck, I guess. Well, I better go find who I am, okay?" Another poor excuse for an excuse.

"Uh…yeah…whatever."

"Bye!"

"Look, you're welcome to use the phone book or whatever you want in this house."

"Thank you."

__

What happened?! I thought that you were going to tell him about us! I blurted. _I'm just not too sure about revealing that right now, okay? _Devi said. _Fine then, but I'm not staying cooped up here forever, you know. _I warned. _I know, I know. _Devi looked in the phone book to find the name "Liana." _Uh…Devi? _I asked. _Yeah?_ She answered, absorbed in the book. _Can't you just sense the address?_ I wondered. _Yes, but I have to pretend like I'm normal, or he'll probably get suspicious._ She reasoned. _O…kay_. We finally found the address, but it wasn't easy considering that these letters are really weird with the organization and all. Although we did teleport to the address, within the _hour_!

Liana was apparently a very wealthy person, as far as I could tell. She had a huge mansion, bigger than the temple I used to live in when I was in Egypt! Well, anyway, as soon as we entered the house, a butler greeted us and told us that our secretary had left several messages from the company. _She works._ I noted. _At least she does something._ Devi reasoned. _What is that supposed to mean?!_ I demanded. _Nothing!_ Devi eluded. _What kind of a job do we have?_ I changed the subject. _I think we're the president of some company._ Devi imagined. _That's cool._ I remarked. Yes, yes, I know, Egyptians don't talk like that, but in Mornedra, I had to study the languages of Earth and its progress for "basic" knowledge. How is _that_ basic?!

"Where is my chauffeur?" Asked Devi.

"But, Miss Liana, you don't work today!"

"I left some work at the office; I need to get it." _Yeah…sure you did._ I whispered to her. _Shush!_

"Right away, miss."

In a few moments, a man dressed in a tuxedo appeared at the door. He opened the door to the limousine and drove us to a huge, majestic building, a lot bigger than the mansion. How did they do that? Earth doesn't have magic…or at least not from humans…_regular_ humans, not the kinds where they have those millennium items.

"We're here!" the chauffeur announced as we arrived at the entrance.

"Thank you."

We entered the building quickly. _At least we know where we work!_ I said. _But isn't Liana a bit young to be working?_ Devi speculated. _Not from where I'm seeing. _I watched as everyone greeted us cordially, many of them nervously eyed us. Suddenly, a girl came up and started talking about the business. _She must be our secretary._ Devi assumed. _Probably. _I stared at the woman in disbelief with a hundred words coming out of her in a second. _Can she repeat that?_ Devi asked. _Just nod and run as fast as your legs can carry you._ I forced our body to move.

__

I don't even know what our products are. She muttered as I felt her slowly translating the words on our way to the elevator (And what's up with that? Can humans make objects levitate? After all, that _is _what elevator means, isn't it?). _I'll remind you not to ignore the vessel's life ever again. _I said. Devi approached the floaty object (a.k.a. _elevator_) and went to the top floor. We went into a room that had the word _President _on the door. _Should we be coming here?_ I asked when I remembered how the guards in Egypt would kill anybody who trespassed onto the royal property. _Don't worry about it. Besides, the only way we're going to know what we do in this world is if we find Liana's records. _Devi mumbled. She read the papers on the desk and found out that we were the owner of a company that manufactured Duel Monsters accessories. _Hey! That looks familiar! I think it's the modern version of the Shadow Game. I wonder if it would inflict pain, too… _I wondered. _Yeah, they _do _resemble it closely._ Devi observed. 

"Miss…uh…secretary? I would like the updates of the company." Devi called.

"Yes, madam."

__

Miss Secretary? I questioned. _What? I didn't know her name! _Devi defended. _It would be a very good idea to use your powers to read minds or something, you know._ I reminded. _Fine, then._ Devi murmured. I could tell she didn't want our cover to be blown, but she scanned the secretary's brain anyway.

"Miss Trent, I would like to leave now." Did she really have to ask?

"Yes, madam."

__

If we have something to do with Duel Monsters, should Seto Kaiba know about Liana? Devi asked me. _What does he have to do with Duel Monsters?_ I questioned. _His name appeared several times on the papers I just saw._ Devi informed. _Well, then, yes!_ We entered the elevator, but Devi didn't use it since she teleported out, after making sure that there were no cameras. We arrived at the Kaiba mansion and sought out Seto. Devi discovered him in the library, reading some technological book. How predictable.

"Seto?"

"Yes?"

"Do you know anything about me?" _Now_ she asks?

"You're uncle had died and you inherited everything from him." _Now_ he answers?

"Oh, I have to go now."

__

I thought I was supposed to keep a low profile in this world. Devi thought. _Well, at least you have money to burn, right? Besides, I was the queen of Egypt, so we're supposed to come into this world with a bang! _I joked. Devi teleported out of the mansion and onto our property. As we entered the door, the butler greeted us once again. For several weeks, Devi and I lived by ourselves, continuing on our daily, if not normal, lives. That is, until one time the butler handed us some mail, which obviously wasn't unusual. One of the letters included an invitation to a dance, a duelist's dance. It was from the creator of Dungeon Dice Monsters, Duke Devlin. _Do you want to go?_ Asked Devi. _Sure, why not?_ I said, even though I didn't see the point. I wish I had never agreed to go…

Aria: You're just full of cliffhangers, aren't you?

Attara: But it was _your_ point of view!

Aria: And I'm glad I commented on the conversations!

Attara: Well, is sort of explains stuff…minimally.

Aria: Who cares?

Attara: I think I do.

Aria: Sure…that what you _want_ us to think…

Attara: Right…

Aria: By the way, don't forget to review!


	13. Fatal Deprivation

Attara: Another sad chapter, but not too sad.

Aria: How much sadder could it get? Yami is gone!

Attara: Oh, be quiet! Back to this fic, I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! Last time we left off where Devi and Aria were supposed to be going to a dance, with Duke Devlin as the host. I know this isn't accurate, but something is going to happen that's very important. And just in case that you're confused, Liana's soul died when she saw that "blinding light."

**

Fatal Deprivation

**

A couple of hours later, we stepped into the foyer of Duke's mansion. Duke personally greeted us at the door. 

"Mr. Devlin, why did you invite me?" Devi asked suspiciously.

"You are my guest of honor, Liana."

"Really? But isn't this the _Duelist's_ Dance?"

"There's no need for _you_ to have to duel." Interesting…

"Ok…"

The room was a little filled with a lot of people obsessed with Duel Dice Monsters. I have no idea how it's played, but it's also very similar to the Shadow Game. The game confuses me, so if I were to explain it, it would be even more confusing, so just leave at the idea that it's Duel Monsters played with dice.

Just moments later, a boy, along with a blond-haired boy, came in. _Devi, I think that that spiky-haired kid looks familiar…_ I commented. _Do you think he might be related to Yami?_ Devi wondered. _I don't know…_ I responded, my hopes slightly heightened. _Now that we're talking about ancient Egypt, do you think that Seto Kaiba looks like the priest?_ I remembered. _Well, I never saw him._

As if on cue, we saw Seto Kaiba walk in. It looked as if he was forced to come against his will. After a couple of minutes, a girl came in. She wore a skirt and a blouse to this dance, paying attention to the part of the invitation that stated formality. The girl eagerly asked Seto for a dance and he accepted with reluctance.

After an hour when the ball had started, Seto, the Yami-like character, the blonde guy, and the girl heard a scream in the hall. Devi detected the sound of distress and invisibly teleported to the area. Of course everybody wanted to play "hero." We saw that there was a stupid duelist who was screaming that a thief had just stolen her deck. She had some resemblance to someone… Devi quietly lurked in the shadows as we watched Yu-Gi, Joey, the unknown girl, and Seto run over to see what had happened. All of a sudden, everyone who was at the scene was sucked into a huge vortex that formed on the floor. I thought I saw a smirk on the "distressed" duelist… We had landed on our feet while everyone else was knocked unconscious for a few moments. _What happened?_ I asked frantically. _I don't know… There seems to be a powerful force that's stopping me from detecting any evil presence and that distressed girl isn't here, so I'm guessing this is a trap._ Devi reasoned, with absolutely no panic in her voice (as if I was expecting any). 

Devi concentrated but still couldn't identify what had trapped them down here. Then, Seto started to stir and everybody else started to regain his or her consciousness. _He's right there!_ I exclaimed as I saw Yami's twin. He even had the millennium puzzle around his neck to show that Yami's spirit was within him. _It's not important for you to have a reunion with Yami right now, okay? There are more serious things at hand._ Devi scolded. _Fine then, but if he comes out when he realizes that I'm right here, I'm not ignoring him, okay?_ I muttered. _Fine then._ Devi allowed. 

"Ugh, what happened?" Seto asked.

"I don't know." The strange girl replied.

"My deck, it's gone!" Yami-twin had screamed.

"Mine too!" exclaimed the blonde boy.

"Oh no, what happened to them?" the girl wondered when she found out that hers was gone as well.

"My precious Blue Eyes!" Seto angrily shouted.

They're all so materialistic! Devi and I were not noticed since we were still invisible, but she made our legs follow the gang very closely. The unfamiliar girl seemed to like Seto Kaiba, but he didn't seem as interested in her as she was in him. Then, without warning, a black hole came out of no where. A booming voice deafened our eardrums.

"You all seem so helpless without your decks; why, that is, except for you, Devi!" a female voice taunted.

"You seem to be mistaken, whoever you are, but there's no one here named Devi!" the unknown girl retorted.

"You're wrong, Tori!" the voice cackled.

For the first time, I paid more attention to Tori's features. She reminded me of Saka, when I was queen of Egypt. Then, Seto's deck appeared and seemed to be telekinetically powered to float into the dark abyss of another vortex. _Why are there so many vortexes? _I asked Devi. _It's the symbol of another realm…_ Devi murmured. Seto screamed and tried to run after the deck, but Yami-twin restrained his maniacal attempt. Instead, Tori had glowed slightly and the cards were retrieved.

"I have…special abilites." she explained as she pointed to the hilt of a golden dagger.

__

What a snob. I muttered. Devi was so much better and she at least had to work for it! Devi giggled a little, making a small noise that accidentally attracted everyone's attention. 

"Uh…I think that someone here _is _named Devi, Joey." Yami-twin whispered.

"But who, Yu-Gi?" Joey asked.

"I think that noise might be the answer." Tori hissed.

__

Oh no! She's going to find us out! I thought sarcastically. _That woman with the loud voice seems to have a lot of power anyway, and I don't even have all of mine too fight against it._ Devi said, apparently not knowing that I was being sarcastic. _Don't worry, we have two minds, and that's better than one!_ I reassured. _All right._ Devi answered. 

Right after that thought, Our body materialized. Everyone saw us become visible, including Seto. 

"Where did you learn how to do that?" Joey asked, amazed.

"Uh…"

"Are you, by any chance, Devi?" asked Yu-Gi.

"Uh…"

"You! Is this why you said you had amnesia?!" demanded Seto. Okay, I've heard stupid questions, but this is by far the dumbest!

"Let the poor girl speak!" Tori screamed. Hm…and _I_ thought that she was a snob?

"Um…thanks, I guess. Well, for Joey's question, I trained to gain the ability. For Yu-Gi's and Seto's yes." Devi answered timidly.

__

Why did we materialize? I worried. _It might have something to do with that hidden woman._ Devi thought. 

"Where are you?! What do you want to do with me?" I took over the body.

"I just love duel monsters decks…" the voice answered.

"I don't have one!" Whew, that was close, I almost said "we."

"You know quite well that you're more valuable than all of the cards in the world, or at least, what you have!" the voice said angrily.

"What are you talking about?" I asked.

"Do you want me to reveal it all to your friends?"

"Shut up!" I shrieked.

__

Okay, uh…Aria? I think that you've had too much anger in your blood stream. I better take over now. Devi advised. _Good, that stupid woman is sticking her nose where it doesn't belong!_ I said angrily. 

"What do you want from me?" Devi asked much more calmly than how I had.

"Why, your powers, of course." The voice evilly answered.

"I don't think I shall give it to you." Devi said, still very calm.

"Then the lives of your friends will be at stake…"

"I don't care about these people." I interrupted.

"What about _your_ people, hm?"

"If you touch any organism in our domain, I swear I will crush you with everything I have!" 

"Ooh! I think I just touched a weak spot, eh?"

__

Why did you take over again? Devi asked. _Sorry, I got caught up in the moment. _I apologized.

"I will give you my power if you solidify as you have done to me, but if you touch my people, you will die with the determination of all the Mornedraians in the realm!" Devi compromised, but _I_ thought that it was a stupid deal.

"Agreed." Of course she would, it was in _her_ favor!!

Instantly, a woman appeared in front of Devi. Everyone, except Devi, recognized her face. _Wow! I didn't know you had a twin!_ I was surprised at the similarities. _What? I don't!_ Devi said, perplexed with the reaction. 

"Whoa, I think I'm seeing double!" Joey said.

__

Okay, that might have convinced me. Devi thought._ And _I_ couldn't?!_ I asked. _Uh…shush! She's talking!_ Devi eluded from the subject.

"Are you ready for the transition?" the woman asked, interrupting our thoughts.

"Yes." Devi agreed.

The woman stood still for a couple of seconds and then a loud noise was heard. A blinding light prevented anyone to see what was happening. Even I couldn't see what was going on. Although Devi and I have separate magic sources, we had always shared a connection…probably from me supposedly being her as a passionate type of girl. When one of us is weak, the other is as well, even when we weren't sharing bodies. Now, we were and the connection was strong. We blacked out.

Attara: I might be causing brain damage with all of the times I made them get knocked out.

Aria: Really?

Attara: As you can tell, I already overdid the unconsciousness phases for Aria…

Aria: What is that supposed to mean?!

Attara: See?

Aria: REVIEW!!!


	14. Weak Power

Attara: Now this chapter is going to be in Seto's point of view! My favoritest character of them all!

Aria: Yami's better!

Attara: No, Seto is.

Aria: Yami!

Attara: Seto!

Aria: Yami!

Attara: Seto!

Aria: Yami!

Attara: Seto!

Aria: Yami!

Attara: Seto!

Aria: Yami!

Attara: Seto!

Aria: Yami!

Attara: Let's start with the fic, shall we? Last time we left off where Devi and Aria blacked out. Oh yeah, I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh and Seto is better than Yami!

**

Weak Power

**

I looked at the limp figure on the floor.

"Shouldn't someone be taking her to the hospital?" Yu-Gi asked.

"Hey, Seto, don't you have a private physician?" Tori reminded.

"It's for Mokuba and I, not for strangers." I retorted.

She stared at me with her brown eyes.

"Please?" 

"No."

She looked around and found my deck of cards on the floor. Tori quickly reached down to pick them up. 

"What about these?" She asked slyly.

"Why does everyone have to use something as hostage?" I groaned.

"Well…?"

"Fine then." I murmured.

"Yay!"

I grabbed my cards from her and picked up the unconscious girl on the floor. Why did this have to happen to me? I was married to someone who I wasn't even sure was human. I heard in the background that Joey found his decks right next to Yu-Gi's. I guess that the supernatural being was aiming for our prized cards. Devi was incredibly light…not normal for a teenage girl. I would estimate that her weight was around sixty pounds.

I placed Devi inside my limousine, while I told her chauffeur to go home by himself. He looked at me with raised eyebrows, then with a slight smirk, but he drove away. Devlin's house was pretty far from my mansion, about an hour-long drive. When we reached it, though, Devi still didn't wake up. I even sprinkled some water onto her face, but she didn't even move. I quickly brought her to the guest bedroom, planning on calling my private physician to examine her, but before I could even reach into my pocket to get the cell phone, a man appeared in the chambers.

"Who are you?!" I demanded.

"I should ask the same." He answered as he looked at Devi.

"Get out of here before I call the police!" I threatened.

"What did you do to the queen?!" He didn't even seem phased at the mention of the authorities.

"Nothing!"

"My poor queen."

Then, he chanted several incoherent phrases. Her eyes fluttered.

"Clef! What's wrong with me? I can't even walk!" she said, horrified. 

"My greatest apologies, my queen, I should have been watching over you…"

"Clef, answer my question, what is wrong with me?"

"Well…my queen…it seems as though you transferred your powers…"

"I know that!"

"It's been six thousand years since you have had them…"

"Get to the point, Clef!"

"You've become a mortal, my queen."

"What about my people…"

Devi fainted.

"How badly is she hurt?" I asked curiously.

"She's just exhausted. The queen has not slept or ate ever since she reigned."

"Really?"

"You must immediately supply her with food."

"Okay."

Clef disappeared just as he had entered. I rushed out of the room and ordered one of the maids to go to the store and buy food. When I came back, I found Mokuba staring at Devi. 

"Seto, is this my sister-in-law?" Mokuba smirked.

"Yeah." I muttered.

"What's wrong with her?"

"She's just tired."

"Oh."

For several days, Devi stayed unconscious. This "Clef" had came back various times to check on her. 

"You must not call the medical attendant upon her." He warned me once.

"What, why not?"

"She…is not a customary human… Her blood is not related to a mortal being in any way, that is, except for its redness."

That was strange. So, did this mean she wasn't really human? I realized that the millennium items had originated from Mornedra, or had some definite relation since Clef had shown me the realm without actually leading me there, similar to Isis's method of showing me my Egyptian past. The purpose of my marriage was to be a "guardian" for Liana when her uncle had died. Now what was the aim?

Finally, Devi started to wake up about a month after the transfusion of power. She sat up and looked around her bedroom. At first, Devi seemed to be mute, only opening her mouth to eat (a little reluctantly, but after some prodding by Mokuba and Clef…), but she started to talk to Mokuba and me more often when Mokuba dragged me there to visit her. After a couple of months, Devi started to have enough strength to walk around the mansion and through the nearby park. Soon, she was progressing as any typical human being should. 

Attara: Now wasn't that a nice chapter?

Aria: What about Yami?

Attara: rolls eyes I'll get to Yami _later_!!!

Aria: Yay!!

Attara: Sorry if I made Seto sound too nice or something, but he's not exactly the person who opens up his feelings the most (*cough* like stupid TEA!!), so it's hard to know what he's thinking.

Aria: Unlike Yami…

Attara: Uh…right.

Aria: Don't forget to review!


	15. The Average Mortal

Attara: From now and on, I will only update if I get REVIEWS!!!!

Aria: Yeah, didn't you update three chapters with no reviews?

Attara: Hehe, yeah…

Aria: That was a waste!

Attara: I sort of realize that _now_!!

Aria: A little slow, aren't you?

Attara: You don't know what you're talking about…

Aria: …Whatever.

Attara: Anyway, last time we left off where Devi has no POWERS!!! NOOOO! How can I be so cruel? Now she's just an average mortal, just like the chapter's title. This chapter is still in Seto's point of view. This time, I'll try to make him mean enough to suit his personality, since I definitely think that last time I made him too nice.

**

The Average Mortal

**

Even with all of these events, Mokuba and I continued with our education. It hadn't even been a fleeting thought to skip it just for some frivolous incident as this. I still was certain that this decision was best even when I came home to find two strangers intruding in my mansion. I heard screams and shouts upstairs in the guestroom. Devi had recovered gradually and was finally able to use her legs moments at a time. When I had entered the room, she was on the floor, attempting to get up, but her limbs were too weak from the use. Without warning, a bright light devoured the room. I squinted to see what was happening. The moment the lighting was back to regular, Devi was standing up with the greatest of ease. Half of the word "what?" escaped from my lips.

"Stay away from us!" She screamed at a woman who looked like Devi, but had a different sense of behavior. I think she was the girl that had confiscated her power.

"Not until I get what I want!" A man retorted. He was masked, so I couldn't see his identity.

"Then you'd have to catch us!"

That moment, Devi waved her hand, and the intruders were paralyzed, but only for a second. She glared as she saw both of them sneer the moment they disappeared…just as Clef had disappeared when he visited Devi. Devi looked at me, but I saw different eyes flash back. It definitely wasn't Devi. Then, I saw her fingering a ring. A sudden idea struck me when I saw that it had the eye of Horus engraved on it, just like Yu-Gi's millennium puzzle.

"Are you the spirit inside Devi?" I queried.

"What's it to you?" she asked suspiciously.

"It's just that-"

"What?"

"How?" Yu-Gi never exactly told me how he gained his spirit.

"'How?' What kind of a question is that? I turned eighteen, so I held her memories along with her spirit." That wasn't a clear response, either.

"What is your name?" I needed to do some research.

"Anat." Wasn't she the queen?

"I have to go now!" The Egyptian queen hurried.

"Wait!"

It was too late, Anat had left and Devi took control once again.

"Why is mortality so painful and weak?" she asked the moment her eyes reopened.

"I don't know…" Was that an insult?

For dinner, they had some food that I could tell Devi couldn't quite distinguish, but she ate it anyway. I watched her pick at her food slowly, eating crumbs tediously. Before even a quarter of the food was finished, Devi excused herself and retired to her designated chambers. Mokuba urged me to bring the rest of the food up to her. He was getting frustrated with my continuous negative answers until I scolded him with his troublesome persistence. He averted his eyes for an instant.

"Fine then." I grumbled.

"That's great, Seto! Here!"

Mokuba shoved Devi's unfinished dish into my hands and pulled me up the stairs. Halfway there, he stopped and ran the opposite direction.

"Hey, kid!" I yelled after him.

He ignored my call and abandoned me in front of her room. I lifted my hand to knock when I heard voices inside. I tried not to eavesdrop while I waited for the conversation to end, but it sounded like she was talking to herself…and answering.

"Aria, I feel very weak." I heard Devi say in a child-like voice.

"I know, that's why I've decided to stay in the same body as you…" The same voice answered, but it seemed to be on the other side of the suite.

"But why? I promised you that I won't stifle your wants."

"Devi, you are weak. You need to depend on me to survive."

"Thanks."

"No problem."

"Uh, Aria?"

"Yes?"

"Do you know what the couple was after today?"

"No, but I think it might have been this." This Aria said with a short pause.

"Oh. That is very powerful, isn't it?"

"Yes, but I've never used its power until today."

"Aria, you can go visit Yami if you want."

"Now is not the time for me to be thinking about that."

"All right, but if you want to go, just tell me and I'll let you take over."

"Thank you."

The conversation ended there. I heard a pair of feet shuffling to the bed. I knocked on the door.

"Come in!" Devi answered quietly.

I looked around, expecting to see another person there, but the only living things I saw there were the plants and Devi.

"Mokuba made me bring you these." I muttered.

She looked at the food in disgust.

"Thank you."

She took the plate and smiled.

"Is there anything else you want?"

"Uh…no."

"Okay, well, bye then!"

"Bye."

I had almost asked her about the other voice, but I could have just imagined the whole thing…somehow. I returned to the study to work on my project for school. I dozed off at my desk.

"Wake up!" A voice interrupted my unconscious slumber.

I opened my eyes to see a pair of black eyes staring back at me.

"Devi?" I murmured.

"Yeah?" She shoved my uniform in front of my face.

"What time is it?"

"Time for you to get up."

"Not now…"

"Do you want me to dress you?" She threatened.

I jumped up instantly and changed as she walked out to wake Mokuba. When had she gathered enough strength to walk that fast and wake that early? I glanced at my watch as I rushed to the bathroom. It was exactly four thirty. 

"Why did she wake me up so early?" I groaned when I realized I was wide-awake and couldn't go to sleep even if I wanted to.

I heard the whines of Mokuba five minutes later. What was she doing, waking us up so early? Didn't she know school didn't start for another three hours? I shrugged as I washed up for breakfast. When I came out, Mokuba had an expression of happiness plastered on his face.

"Hey, kid, why are you so happy?" I asked him.

"You'll see, Seto!" He said excitedly.

He seized my hand and almost caused me to fall as he pulled me down the stairs. I couldn't believe my eyes…

Attara: Wow, my very first cliffie, I think…

Aria: Isn't Seto still a little nice?

Attara: Come on, these are his thoughts, it's not like he's pure evil…

Aria: Well…yeah.

Attara: What do you think he saw? Write it in your review!

Aria: If you don't, we might not update for a looooooooong time!

Attara: Yup! I'm going to keep that promise very well!

Aria: So don't forget to REVIEW, or you won't be able to know what the great Seto Kaiba saw! 


	16. Changes of Life

Attara: Not many people gave me suggestions for what Seto saw!

Aria: Except for one person, who thought it was his millennium rod…

Attara: Yeah! That was a great guess, but that's not it…

Aria: Uh-huh, yeah, well, back to me!

Attara: That's right! This chapter is in Aria's point of view once again. 

Aria: And I have another job!! I'm the disclaimer in Penny's story!

Attara: And I'm the co-writer! Don't forget to read it! The other authoress is Penny: Angel of Darkness, so just look her up and find her story! It's about a girl named Mihu Lluadd. It's a very interesting fic…and we just started it! Well, back to my fic! I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh and last time we left off where Seto saw something…weird!

**

Changes of Life

**

I laughed when I saw Seto stare at all of the Mornedraian servants in awe. Magic dominated the kitchen as silverware levitated around the dining room table, trying to find its correct position. After Devi had lost her magic from Mornedra, the only magic that supported her for now was my ring, so she had to eat and sleep. Last night, I heard her grumble about how stupid it was that humans made themselves unconscious just by closing their eyes for a long time. I also heard her complain about how fast it was that mortals would need to refuel themselves with dead organisms. Even more, she did not like the way Earth-food tasted, so that was when I suggested on bringing the servants from Mornedra to serve her. Of course they came immediately to the queen's service… 

"What is this?!" Seto asked us.

"I'm sorry…" Devi apologized.

"How dare you come and take over my mansion!"

"I said I was sorry…"

"I will not allow this on my property!"

"Whoa, wait a second!" I took over Liana's body. 

"Half of this is ours!" I grinned, remembering my studies in Mornedra about modern Earth.

"I forgot about that… Stupid marriage vows…" Seto muttered.

It wasn't as if I was happy to be married to _Seto_! After all, I was Yami's wife, not _his_… But I had no choice right now, besides, I had already told Devi that I would stay with her to provide support of a suitable amount of magic. So did this mean I was more powerful than my creator? That's a pretty strange–and scary–fact to know since all this time Devi had protected me from any danger…and now I had to carry that burden for her. Before, I only had to take care of myself, since Devi didn't need anyone to watch her, but now, I couldn't do all the things I wanted to do… I had been planning to meet with Yami for some time, but now I realize that I must protect my protector. She didn't want me to…but Devi doesn't have any emotions, so what am I supposed to do? All she does is copy my personality…nothing more.

Mokuba was a much more outgoing boy than his aloof brother. He was actually happy to see some magic in the house and seemed pretty excited that he could eat some foreign food. Mornedraian food does not look strange at all…except for the fact that it doesn't look like food…just a white blob on a plate. Although you couldn't see the texture, the moment a person bites into it, the taste of the food he or she is thinking of will be sampled. If the person isn't thinking of any specific food, it will just be tasteless, like eating melted ice…also known as water, but no one can eat water…just drink (no matter how hard they chew)! 

Devi had informed Mokuba of me, so I had told Mokuba about the Mornedraian food already, but I wanted to see what would happen once Seto tried it. It was hilarious! Mokuba praised the food greatly when he tasted the flavor of hamburgers as Seto spit out the food in disgust when I found he was thinking of something…_not_ as edible… 

"What is this?!" He gagged.

"What did you think it was?" Devi asked.

"Vomit."

"Then that's what you get."

"What is this, some kind of joke?"

"No, you taste what you want."

"Mokuba, did you know this?!"

"Yeah, Aria told me!" Mokuba smiled at me. I watched him suppress some giggles.

"Why wasn't I informed of this?"

"You should've asked!" I muffled my laughter.

"This is disgusting!"

"Just think happy thoughts!" I replied through Liana's mouth for a second.

If I were to pinpoint the moment Seto had somewhat hated me, this would be the moment because Mornedraian food has a lasting taste for quite a while. This was conjured for the delicacies one would enjoy, but also for punishments for criminals in prison. Don't ask me how they do that, but there are some people who have the power to make others have distinct thoughts of various subjects, including not-so-good food.

After Mokuba had told Seto of the method to consume this food, he enjoyed it as well, but of course he didn't admit it. When an hour had passed with the interrogations for the Mornedraian servants, Seto left to go somewhere… Mokuba just stayed in his room.

Two hours later, I found Seto's limousine pull up in the driveway. Interestingly enough, he had brought his suitcase to wherever he had gone. 

"You're going to Egypt." He ordered us once he opened the door.

"There's no need for me to go…" Devi said timidly.

"Wait…_Egypt_?!" I regained control.

"Yes, I have a jet that will take us there immediately."

"Why do you want to go to Egypt?" I asked suspiciously.

"_You_, Queen Anat, are the former ruler of Egypt, and there are some ruins that I want you to translate."

"Can't you ask someone else to do it…like an archaeologist?"

"If I were to find a Japanese person who did not speak English very well, but I did find an American, would I ask the Japanese person to translate the Declaration of Independence?"

"Yeah, considering your IQ…" I trailed off with a smirk.

At that moment, Mokuba came downstairs, he probably heard Seto's booming voice on the second floor.

"Hey, Mokuba, do you want to go to Egypt?" Seto asked him.

"Sure! When can we go?" He answered.

"Now."

"Can Devi and Aria come?"

"Yes."

"All right! Hey, I didn't know Yu-Gi and everyone else were coming too!"

"They're not…"

"Then why are they coming to our house?"

"They are?!"

I looked out, and the group of teenagers were trudging up the long walkway…including that sickening girl…_Tori_! Seto stormed out of the house and confronted them. I quickly stood next to the door to see what was going on.

"What are you doing on my property?" Seto started.

"We heard you were going to Egypt…"

"And what's it to you?"

"Someone invited us here!"

"Who?"

"I don't know…some girl…"

Seto looked over at me. I waved back with a grin. I could tell on Seto's face that he had an expression of bewilderment. I winked at Mokuba.

"If they're not going, we're not going!" I yelled.

"They're not going!" Seto responded quickly.

"Looks like you're going to have to find that Japanese person…"

"Fine then." He grumbled.

Everybody entered the Kaiba mansion. Many were in awe of its size. I rolled my eyes. _They're pathetic, too._ I said. _That's what you say about everybody._ Devi replied. _Because it's true._

"Aren't you Devi?" Joey asked.

"Er…yes." I forced Devi into control.

"Hi, Devi!" Yu-Gi greeted.

"Uh…hi."

"Devi, this is Tèa Gardner." Yu-Gi pointed to a brown-haired girl.

"Hi, Tèa, I'm Devi." Inside my mind room, I was shaking my head with the repetitive greetings.

"Hi, Devi." Tèa answered. Okay, is it me, or is her voice just plain annoying?

"This is Ryou Bakura." Yu-Gi pointed out a white-haired boy.

"Hi, Bakura, I'm Devi." She said.

"Hi, Devi."

"Oh yeah, and this is Tristan Taylor." Yu-Gi pointed to a pointy, brown-haired boy.

"Hi, Tristan, I'm Devi." She repeated.

"Hey, Devi." He answered. They are definitely wearing out her name.

"And you already know me, Yu-Gi Moto, and him, Joey Wheeler, right?"

"Yeah…from that dance…"

__

How did you manage to get them here? Devi asked when she was finally through with the introductions. _I signaled for one of the servants to get them… You know, the one that can disguise his voice. But I didn't tell him to get Tori…_ I answered. _Why did you invite them?_ She asked me. _Because Seto doesn't seem to like them that much!_ I answered while laughing.

"Well…?" I asked after taking control of the body once again.

"Let's get a move on!" Mokuba hurried.

"The jet is outside." Seto mumbled.

All of us moved to the "jet." How was that going to make us get to Egypt? Suddenly, after a man told us to buckle out seat belts, the "jet" started to move… We were flying! Was this the same kind of magic that caused the mortals to create that elevator? When I was wondering about this, I felt Devi smile. _Aria? Earth has advanced greatly since your leave. You should have paid attention to those lessons on modern times…_ She thought. _But they were _so_ boring!_ I muttered. _Still…_

We finally arrived at the place in about ten hours. It all seemed familiar, but I couldn't pinpoint where it was _exactly_, so I just followed Seto… We came upon a man who gestured to us to follow him. We did, and he led us to a couple of ancient pyramids. Yu-Gi started to fidget uncomfortably, as did Tori. I saw my ring glow brightly, but I shoved my hands into my pockets. Before we could actually get close enough, the man disappeared with a bright light. 

"Annoying magic." I heard Seto mumble.

We entered the pyramid dubiously. The moment Yu-Gi stepped inside, his millennium item suddenly glowed and Yami appeared. I kept quiet, even in his presence, but he seemed to sense me near him. Well, he approached a wall that had some inscriptions on it. Somehow, he was able to read the writing instantly. Just then, the spirits concealed in the millennium items came out, including me. Everyone was surprised at the separations, but they were mostly astonished when they watched Devi and Tori duplicate. 

"You have a millennium item?" Yu-Gi asked.

"Yes…" Tori answered.

"Who are you?!" Yu-Gi's spirit asked me suspiciously.

"The same thing as you!" I snapped. 

This was bad, _really_ bad. Now the job to protect Devi had become extremely difficult. I know that it seems that we could perform a spell to bind us together again, but Egyptian magic is Mornedraian magic, therefore, you can't reverse it. This definitely was bad. Devi had been dependent on me ever since her loss of magic. I glared at Yami. Yes, I had married him, but that was then and this is now. And now, my duty is to defend her, and it was all of his fault! He put her life in danger…twice! But the duplications weren't over yet. I watched Tori and Bakura each gain a twin, too. I knew quite well that they would not be able to remember their pasts clearly, and I had no intention of refreshing their memories. Instead, I acted on my anger.

"Look what you've done!" I yelled

"What?" Yami asked.

"You've parted our souls! This is terrible!"

"This is a good thing."

"No it's not! Devi now has no protection!"

"Is she not the queen of Mornedra?"

"What is that supposed to imply? She had lost all of her power trying to save some pathetic mortals!"

"Devi seems too much of a passive character isn't she?" 

I growled at Yami.

"Go away!" I yelled at him.

And in all of my rage, I tapped into that small bit of power that I had gained from being in the same body as Devi for so long. Before I knew it, I teleported both Devi and I from the pyramid. We were back at the Kaiba residence.

"Very good, Aria!" Devi congratulated me.

"He shouldn't have done that." I muttered.

"That's okay, Aria. At least now, you can go visit Yami!" She said optimistically.

"No, I will not."

"Why not?"

"You're vulnerable… Besides, didn't Clef say that magic was a part of you?"

"Yes…"

"So you should be able to have at least a small amount of magic."

"I'm still alive?"

"No, something more…"

"We'll figure it out sooner or later. For now, I need to sit down. Flying is not the best way for me to travel."

That was pretty ironic considering that teleporting seemed much more uncomfortable than flying.

"Aria, what millennium item do you think that Tori has?" Devi asked suddenly.

"I don't know, but she did duplicate with us, so it must be some _important_ one…"

"Whatever she has, you have the same power too, right?"

"Yup."

"Okay. Just to make sure she won't be able to annihilate us if she wanted to."

"I just don't want to be weaker than a snob."

"Aria, although I have tried to imitate your emotions, I still can't understand this reaction to Tori. Why don't you like her?"

"Devi, you're too naïve, even if you are the renowned innocent queen of the Mornedra. Everybody can clearly see that she is trying to show off for Seto Kaiba."

"I don't really care about that."

"You don't care about anything, but it's truly demeaning to have someone take your husband away from you."

"Oh. But if Seto Kaiba wanted to be married to Tori, I would let him. It was Liana's uncle who wanted a guardian for her, but now, she's…gone…"

"Trust me, you wouldn't like Tori if you had the ability to."

"If you say so…"

Did I mention that technology is a very interesting thing on earth? There was a huge box in this room made of some material unknown to me, but when you pressed a button, an image would appear on the so-called "screen!" This would provide entertainment for all of the viewers. Also, I watched Mokuba take a long wire, connected to a different box, and plug it into a hole in this box. Then, he had taken another wire, which was also connected to the same box, and plugged that one into the wall. With this arrangement, he could use a controller that would move the character on the screen to whatever he willed. He continually called it a "T. V." Later, Devi informed me that the full name was "television" (of course, she scolded me again for not keeping up with modern times). Well, right now, she used a much smaller, different box…more in a shape of a prism with many more buttons on it, and she pressed the one at the top. WOW! It was pure magic! The screen turned on once again, without even making contact!

"How did you do that?" I asked in amazement.

Devi looked at me oddly.

"Don't you know? This is called a 'remote control!'"

"Remote control?" I repeated.

"Yes, there's a signal that comes from this."

She pointed to the top of the "remote control."

"And it goes to the television set."

She pointed to the small, black spot at the bottom.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk, Aria, you have to start paying a lot of attention to the current events tutor in Mornedra, or you'll destroy something sooner or later…"

Well, after watching several hours of a show that I didn't exactly catch the meaning of, I heard a plane overhead. Minutes later, the group that we had left had returned to the mansion.

"Aria?" Yami asked.

"What do you want?" I shot back.

"Aren't we…?"

"Who cares? I don't!"

"But…"

"Didn't I tell you to go away?!"

I grabbed Devi's hand and stormed out of the mansion.

Attara: And that's the end of that chapter!

Aria: Don't forget to review! 


	17. High Schoolers

Attara: Hello again!

Aria: Hi, everyone!

Attara: At first, I was going to do this chapter in Devi's point of view, but she's too hard to do…

Aria: Does Devi really matter?

Attara: Yes! First, she's the main character, and second, she's my favorite one, too.

Aria: Well, too bad, this chapter is all from my opinions, my thoughts, and my ideas!

Attara: Anyway, I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh and never will…which all of you probably figured by now. Last chapter, we left off where Aria grabbed Devi and they teleported out of the Kaiba mansion.

**

High Schoolers

**

"Don't leave this house!" I ordered Devi when we had arrived in Liana's former residence.

"Why not?" she asked.

"There are dangerous people out there…"

"Like Yami?"

"Exactly!"

"But aren't you…?"

"That doesn't matter right now!"

"Okay…"

I choked back tears while rushing out of the room, heading toward the guest bedroom. What was I supposed to do? I pondered as I crawled into the bed. Devi had to stay away from them. They involved magic, and magic can kill…

I awoke to the sounds of shuffling in the room…quick and scared. I could smell the fear in the air, but I made sure to feign the state of sleep. The figure exited the room. I followed him and realized that it was Liana's butler. He entered Liana's bedroom. Apparently, Devi was sleeping there. I crept behind the doorway and smiled at his nervousness.

"Miss Liana, there is a girl here that resembles you!" He informed Devi.

"Ah, yes, she is…er…my twin sister…" She lied.

"I see, Miss Liana, thank you for telling me." Adam breathed a sigh of relief.

"Don't worry about her."

"Well, Miss Liana, you seem better now after the incident, so would you like to come to school today?"

"School?"

"Yes, Domino High School, once your tutor had passed away, you were immediately enrolled."

"Oh…I must have forgotten over the accident…"

"So, shall we ask the chauffeur to drop you off?"

"Of course, please wake Aria, too."

"Your sister? Of course."

"Thank you, Adam."

I rushed to my room and dove under the covers. Seconds later, the creaky door opened and a tense man crept in.

"Uh…Miss Aria? Please wake…" He said barely above a whisper.

I stifled a giggle.

"Oh…all right." I pretended to be sleeping.

"Yes, miss, there is a uniform in the closet for school, if you have not prepared one."

__

Uniform? I wondered. _What kind of school were we going to?_ Adam quickly scurried out of the room, probably to prepare breakfast or something.

The uniform I was designated to wear had a short, blue skirt, which wasn't to my liking at all. What could you do with a short skirt? Stand all day? This was pathetic…just like a lot of other things on earth…those sexist school boards with their stupid ideas of a uniform… Stupidity beyond imagination! Ugh! But, nevertheless, I had to wear the mandatory uniform, or Devi would probably force me into it…and that wasn't going to be a pleasant moment. I glanced at the mirror and saw the ugly frills. A burlap bag would look better!

When I finally got down to breakfast, there, set at the table, was none other than earth food. I glanced at Devi, trying to analyze her expression, but for once in her life, she actually allowed herself to look stoic. I guess she realized that my reaction to this would have been rude… I just closed my eyes and ate as much as I could before tasting the flavors.

"Why did I have to go to school?" I complained when we were in the limousine.

"Because it's against the law to drop out of school before you graduate." Devi reminded.

"Why does Earth have so many rules?"

She shook her head and laughed. But before I could think this over, we arrived at a large, brick building with the words "Domino High School" mounted on the side.

"We're here." I said gloomily.

"Yes, we are, and now we have to find the guidance counselor to get our classes." Devi sighed.

"Stupid school…"

We roamed the halls, attempting to follow the signs that pointed to the right direction, unfortunately, the signs were in paper, and apparently, people who come here find it fun to tear paper up… This obviously made the task extremely difficult. Devi found an adult and asked for directions.

"New, huh?" She asked.

"Uh, yeah." Devi smiled. "Both of us are." She grabbed me.

"Well, you're pretty close to it…just take the first left and look for the sign at the right-hand side, okay?"

"Okay, thank you!"

"Anytime. Bye now!"

I rolled my eyes.

"Do they have to be so cheery?" I growled when the woman walked away.

Devi ignored me and just followed the directions. We came upon a big door saying "Guidance Office" in the front. She opened the creaky door and peered in.

"May I help you?" Another woman asked us once we entered.

"Um…yes… Well, I just came here, so I'm new, and I need to find my classes…" Devi started.

"No problem. Just tell me your last name."

"Uh…Mornedra."

"Okay, and who is this girl next to you? Are you two twins?"

"Yes, we are."

"How cute!"

"Um…thank you?"

"Okay, your guidance counselor is Mr. Hyasaki. He's right over there." She pointed to the door at my left.

"Thank you."

We rushed into the room. We found a man in a black suit sitting behind a wooden desk. He seemed to be on a computer. I felt Clef's presence in the room all of a sudden.

"Well, hello there. How may I help you?" He greeted.

"We're new here, so I need to know my classes…" Devi repeated while handing him some papers…probably what Clef had given her.

"Okay, that can be settled easily, although all of the good classes are taken by now."

"That's okay."

"But you're going to have the basics: chemistry, American history, English, and grammar." He chuckled.

"Of course."

"Now, what are you interested in?"

"I don't know…"

"Well, I guess you could go to creative writing… Let's see if there is an opening here…ah yes! Here it is!"

"Um…are there two spaces for that?" 

"Well, no, but I could always add an extra person to the class…"

"Yes, please! Can you do that to everything else?"

"Well, it would be against the rules…"

"It would?"

"I just need to check, please wait."

At that moment, I saw Devi signal for Clef to come again. I could sense him in the room once more as the guidance counselor spoke. After several seconds, he left. 

"Ha, you're just in luck, we have two spaces in everything." The counselor said.

"Oh how lucky we are." I muttered.

"Yes we are." Devi replied.

"Well, here is a list of your classes, girls. I think you'll be able to find them easily."

"Okay."

"How mindless I must be today, I forgot to ask for your name!"

"My name was Liana…"

"It says here that you don't have a guardian or a last name?"

"Well…that's sort of solved by marriage and I do have a last name now since I found my long-lost sister…"

"So what is your last name?

"Mornedra."

"What an odd name… Well, everything seems to be in order…except that your sister is not in the database…"

"That's because she's not enlisted yet. Her name is Aria Mornedra and I have just given you her paperwork."

"Aria, is it? Okay… Just let me enter her in…and…a-ha! Now she has every class you do."

"I have never had a happier day." I said sarcastically.

"Well, here are your schedules and your birth certificates. Hold on, let me make copies of your birth certificates."

"Yeah, well, thank you."

Devi grabbed me again and bolted out of the room once he slowly took his time putting the documents into the copy machine.

"School was and always will be stupid and a waste of time." I groaned.

"Well, since we are immortal, there's no such thing as wasting time, now is there?" She smiled.

"Whatever… What's our first class?"

Suddenly, a loud bell rang throughout the halls.

"What was that?" I asked.

"Hm…it must signal for the start of class." Devi noted when hundreds of teenagers created traffic in the corridors.

"Must be…"

"Bad news…" Devi yelled to me over the crowd.

"What?"

"We have English."

"English?! English is so _boring_! I don't see the point of taking it!"

"Well, it's a basic study, so you still have to go…"

Devi shoved her hand into the backpack to find a map of the school.

"Stupid room numbers…they're so small that you can't even see if that is a B or D!" I complained.

"Look, I found A206, just follow me."

Do schools have to be so big? The halls are tiny and the rooms are huge, and people don't even use the whole thing! This is so not logical!

"Well, here we are." 

I sighed when Devi dragged me to a strange-smelling room filled with pictures of America and its symbols plastered across the walls. Devi walked up to the teacher, explaining that I was a new student here.

"Okay, class, we have a new student here today. Her name is Aria Mornedra. Aria, why don't you tell us a little bit about yourself?" The teacher asked too cheerily, especially for me.

"Uh…I was an orphan…" I closed her eyes, straining to remember what Devi had told the counselor, "and Devi's my twin sister who I just found recently… Erm…that's about it…"

"Thank you, Aria, you may sit down now next to Liana."

"Er, where do I sit?" Devi asked the smiling teacher.

"You forgot already?"

"Huh, yeah, silly me, I have a terribly memory."

"Just behind Seto Kaiba. I'm sure you know who he is." She watched Devi closely to see her reaction.

"Okay, thank you." She scrambled to her seat, ignoring the teacher's uncomfortable stares.

I fell into mine rather than sat. Seto didn't even look up from his book for all this time. Several girls giggled and whispered to each other while looking at his deep concentration. I rolled my eyes.

"How pathetic." Was my predictable phrase.

"Today class, we are going to learn the different tenses of the English language." The teacher droned.

"Ms. Tokaru, I already memorized it!" A girl said excitedly.

"That's very nice, Nasawa. Could you do it on the board for us?"

"Of course!" The girl glanced at Seto, who still didn't look up.

The girl started to scrawl several illegible English letters onto the board, but halfway, she stopped.

"Uh…Ms. Tokaru, I seem to have forgotten the rest…" She sighed.

"Okay, well, please choose another student to finish." Ms. Tokaru said.

"Aria."

"But she-"

"That's okay, Ms. Tokaru." I interrupted. "I learned a little bit of English before."

"Very well, then."

I marched up to the board with pride and completed the general rules for present and future tenses. Looks like paying attention to Mornedraian tutors does have some advantage…

"Excellent, Aria!" The teacher praised.

I glared at Nasawa. Was she trying to embarrass me in front of the class? Well, she'd have to try harder than that. I returned to my seat and blocked out the rest of the lesson until another bell rang.

We started rushing to the next class since we were swept away with the crowd. The next period was gym. This class held a lot of the sophomores, so Devi and I saw Yu-Gi, Tèa, Bakura, Ryou, Yami, Tori, Saka, Joey, Tristan, and Seto. 

I could tell Seto didn't really belong in the group because he disliked Yami for some reason. Yu-Gi then came up to Devi. I stood next to her protectively.

"So, Devi, you've come to school?"

"Obviously." I answered for her.

"Next period is lunch, do you want to sit with us?"

"Okay." Devi said.

"No." I contradicted.

"Aria, why not?" asked Devi.

"Don't you see? We're getting closer to the enemy!"

"I don't think so…"

"How can you be so sure?"

"I am. Just once?" Devi asked.

"Fine then."

We played some sort of game called Dodge Ball. Just like the name implies, you have to dodge the ball. To me, it was boring, to everyone else except Devi, it was "fun." These two periods of agony soon ended as another bell rung.

Devi and I went to the cafeteria, but we forgot to bring money. Then someone tapped Devi on her shoulder. She turned around and saw Adam holding two lunches. 

"Thank you!" Devi exclaimed gratefully.

"Thanks." I mumbled.

Devi was looking for Yu-Gi and saw him waving to us to come over. She ran over while dragging me with her. It seems as if she knew I would run away if I wasn't forced to go anywhere. Everybody we knew sat there, except for Seto. Joey noticed that Devi was puzzled at his disappearance.

"Kaiba isn't sociable." He explained.

"Oh."

I wandered around the cafeteria, looking for Seto. If he isn't sociable, then why don't we make him sociable? A couple minutes later, all of them could probably see me coming over to the table hauling over an angry Seto Kaiba. 

"Let me go!" he demanded.

"No. You must have a full health triangle, and your social health is waaaay down there." I justified.

"I said let me go!" 

Seto made another attempt to run away, but my superhuman strength (yes, another potion) took over and lifted Seto a couple of inches off the floor. Devi was laughing hysterically along with everyone at the table. But Joey didn't find the thought of eating with him very pleasing. I placed him onto the seat next to Devi. Seto tried to get away, but this was when Tori used telekinesis to keep him down. 

"What's wrong with you people?" he screamed.

I muffled him before he could attract any more attention. Devi finished her lunch quickly and turned to Seto Kaiba.

"If Aria stops muffling you, will you not scream?" Devi asked. Seto nodded.

"Okay, Aria."

I let him go and, true to his word, Seto sat there quietly. 

"So, Seto, how was school?" Devi asked in a friendly way.

"I've had better." He mumbled as he started on his lunch.

"So, how do you like school so far?" Yu-Gi asked both of us.

"It's good." Devi said. If I had answered…Devi would have probably scolded me again.

We had to go to geometry class after lunch, but I first had to go to the bathroom, so Devi went ahead without me. 

Several seconds later, a fire drill rang throughout the school. Devi saw me coming down the hallway, being swept away from the wave of kids scrambling to get outside. Everybody looked around eagerly for any signs of fire or smoke. Fire trucks were heard as they rushed toward the school. I was a bit confused with this procedure. I had never even heard of trucks when I was previously in school, so, obviously, this was a new experience for me. Devi asked around for what caused the fire, and someone had said that a person had started it in the girls' bathroom. I quickly turned away. Oops...

"Aria, did you do that?"

"I didn't know how to flush the toilet, so I got a little angry, and my powers sort of went out of control…" I smiled sheepishly.

"Aria!"

"Sorry…hehe."

"Well, let's just hope that they don't find out the true source of this."

"Don't worry, these humans are too narrow-minded to even think of that possibility."

" You're lucky this time, Aria, but try not to get angry at these new technological advances in the mortal realm, okay?"

"I'll remember that."

"Good."

This event caused every pupil to return home early. Devi took out her cell phone to call her chauffeur. Minutes later, a white limousine reached the front of the building. We walked in quickly before people could crowd around it. Right behind this vehicle was Seto's limousine. He was also rushing to get there, but it was too late. To solve this problem, he threatened to "drop" people where they stood if they wouldn't get out of his way.

When we had finally reached the mansion, I dashed to the television set while Devi had to go to work (poor Devi). I, on the other hand, had the luxury of being able to sprawl on the couch lazily and watch the perpetual soap operas that make my life seem a little less complicated than their millions of problems. 

Sometimes, you have to cherish life's small moments of relaxation because they may never happen again…

Attara: Now how do you like that chapter?

Aria: Very…uh…nice!

Attara: Of course, another masterpiece done by me!

Aria: So that's what you call a masterpiece?

Attara: Yup!

Aria: Okay, readers, PLEASE review because you _know _you don't want another one of Attara's masterpieces!


	18. Another Sacrifice

Attara: Hello, everyone!

Aria: Hurry up with the fic!

Attara: Yeah, of course. I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh and last time we left off where Aria and Devi went to school.

**

Another Sacrifice

**

"Miss Aria, here is the mail." Our butler handed me a pile of envelopes.

"Thank you!" I grabbed them eagerly.

Let's see…trash, trash, trash, _definitely_ trash, ah, what is this? I quickly opened a blue envelope.

"Who: Seto Kaiba

What: Birthday Banquet

When: Today

Where: Kaiba Residence"

This was interesting… I would expect Seto Kaiba to be the last person in the world to hold a birthday party. Must be Mokuba's doing…

I immediately informed Devi of this invitation, and she of course accepted it. We wore a somewhat formal in clothing…just a couple of dresses, plain, but still dresses. Devi's was white and mine was black.

This time we left in a white limousine and reached the Kaiba mansion in five minutes. Devi knocked on the door and rang the bell twice. Mokuba opened it and smiled. 

"You came!"

"Yup!" I said.

"Come in."

Devi and I saw a lot of people from other companies chatting in the room to moment we stepped in. 

"I guess this was a business party." I observed.

I started to look for Seto around the house. When I finally saw him, I motioned to Devi to follow. We saw Seto sitting on a sofa, watching television. 

"Hello!" Devi greeted.

"What? Who invited you here?" Seto asked when he saw me.

"Mokuba did."

"Why?"

"I don't know, he's your brother, go ask him." I snapped.

Seto continued to watch TV. This should be fun…

"So, Seto, how was school?"

"It was good."

"What did you think of the fire?"

"I don't know. It was just a fire."

"Okay, how old are you?"

"I'm sixteen."

"Are you going anywhere today?"

"I'm taking out Mokuba to a restaurant to celebrate."

"Can we come?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because you are annoying."

"What about Devi?"

"I know very well that if she comes, you come."

"So? I won't talk."

"Your presence is irritating."

Hm…not as entertaining as I deemed it would be…but that's okay. Soon, everyone started to leave, I guess Seto isn't much of a host. One of Seto's executives probably planned the whole thing for business or something. Well, we were the only ones left, and by "we" I mean Devi, me, Mokuba, and Seto.

"Well, Aria, looks like we're going to have to go." Devi told me.

"Devi, can you come to the restaurant with us?" Mokuba asked immediately.

"If it is accepted by Seto." She answered.

"Mokuba, do you really want that?" Seto asked.

"Definitely!"

"But you realize that Aria would come, too, right?"

"Of course I know that!"

"All right, then."

All of us rushed into the limousine. I pushed Seto out of the way and ran in first. Seto angrily shook a fist at me, but he didn't touch me. Next went in Mokuba, and Devi sat on the seat facing all three of us. After a half an hour, we had arrived at the restaurant.

"Eww, this food is really nasty!" I commented when I saw snails everywhere.

"Aria!" Devi scolded.

"It is!"

"Well, just order stuff that you like."

"How may I help you?" A waiter greeted us at the door.

"Ah, yes, we need a table with four seats." Mokuba said formally.

"This way." The waiter led us to an empty, round table.

"The waiter will be with us shortly." He smiled and left.

"Come on, Mokuba, we better wash up." Seto reminded.

"That's right…Devi, can you watch our things?" I asked Devi.

"No problem." She smiled.

I rushed to the bathroom, trying to make as least time as possible from leaving Devi. Anything could happen here…

Suddenly, there was a hand that covered my mouth. I grabbed it and used my magic to burn the person's face, but before I could call the magic, there was a heavy blow on my shoulder…

The next thing I remembered was a scene where Devi was talking to an identical girl…the girl we had encountered at Duke's dance. I looked around and found Mokuba and Seto tied next down next to me. Devi was wearing her formal clothing: a white outfit that had white pants and a sleeveless, white shirt with many gold bracelets on her arms that had sashes leading to her shoulders. In her hand was a staff with the infamous direth, the stone of Mornedra with mysterious power not yet revealed, and on her head was the royal crown of Mornedra. She was wearing white boots that reached her knees.

"What have you done to these beings?" Devi was asking.

"We have just tied them up…" The woman grinned evilly.

"Let them go." Devi commanded quietly.

"I will, for a price."

"What will it be?"

"You."

"What do you wish from me? You already have my powers."

"But you are still very valuable. I am quite aware of the fact that the Mornedraians are dedicated to you heart and soul. I want to rule Mornedra!"

"You evidently have the ability to take my realm with your own tactics."

"That may be true, however, it is something else I seek to obtain. Out of all of your telepathic abilities, you still don't know who I am?"

"Not really."

"I am your passion, Devi!"

"How is that possible?"

"Unlike you, the Drenites welcomed me in open arms. You abandoned me! But the prophecies had foretold of this desertion. Don't you know what else they have said? They have predicted that one of the two beings of the ruler of Mornedra will dominate the other. Don't you know that your passion is stronger than you? Don't you know that I am stronger than you? You should have considered the consequences the day you made that deal with that witch. You must be wondering why I am in a body. Well, I assume you know that the former ruler of Mornedra has been banished. He had incredible power. The Drenites welcomed him in open arms as well. He became the leader of Drena. One day he heard of your separation from your passion. He created a diversion that led you to the mortal realm while his loyal subjects would steal me. His abilities created me a body to reside in. And here I am!"

"You still have not responded to my question."

"I'm getting to that part. Well, the king had a vast knowledge of the history of power. He remembered that an old and wise wizard had told him that if one of us would rule the other, we would have abilities beyond anyone's imagination! This is what I want. I, the queen of Drena, want you, the queen of Mornedra, to become my loyal servant for the price of these wretched human souls. Aria was the most rebellious one as I remember. The people I sent after her had been knocked unconscious in the attempt of abducting her, but I had to come down to the mortal realm myself and give her an overload of power, as you have seen from the blackout."

At that moment, the other two captives woke from their trance by a snap of the passion's fingers. 

"Whoa, is that really Devi?" Mokuba admired.

"Come to think of it, I have not really seen her dressed like that for over a millennium!" I exclaimed.

"She looks like-" Seto started.

"A queen?" I rolled my eyes.

"Even at our moment of weakness, you continue to act like a nuisance."

"Shut up, bonehead!" 

"Your undeveloped mind has just been shown at its lowest measure."

"Whatever."

I growled and tried to punch him, but my hands were tied down…tightly.

"I will not agree." Devi answered the woman.

"What? And give up friends like these?"

"It's for a greater cause."

"Very well, I see that the first plan is a failure, let's move to the second one."

"What's that?"

"A threat to your entire kingdom!"

"You shall not touch them."

"I obey my king, but your kingdom is chaotic with such a worthless ruler."

"Do not speak to me in this way."

"Do you not want to know my plan to destroy your kingdom?"

"I know quite well what you can do."

"Although you know what is possible, I shall explain it to these foolish mortals. You see, I am the passion of this pathetic Mornedraian. Passion is quite powerful as a stone after it has been extracted from the person's heart, being able to kill any living creature within a hundred-mile radius. But after it has a vessel to inhabit, it will have devastating effects, having the capability to destroy an entire realm. This is possible once the blood of the current ruler is mixed with mine. Obviously Devi doesn't bleed without having the liquid disappear, so I have decided to withdraw it from Aria. Aren't I the clever one?"

"No, you're as dumb as the rest of them!" I shrieked.

"Shut up!" the passion yelled.

"What is your name?" Devi asked all of a sudden.

"Why do you want to know?" the woman asked.

"If I want to serve someone, I might as well know their name."

"Seraph."

"That's ironic." I commented.

Seraph turned around and summoned her own outfit as queen of Drena. Seraph's dress was probably the complete opposite of Devi's. Hers was black with rubies circling her waist. The dress was also sleeveless, and there was a cape that would drag on the floor, but she used her magic to let it levitate. Seraph had a staff of pure gold with a ruby the size of a golf ball at the top. This stored a lot of her magic, but most of it was inside her own body. Instead of a crown, Seraph had a tiara. Her tiara had a small direth in the center and diamonds all the way around. At her feet, Seraph wore black sandal high heels. 

After this transformation, Seraph pointed her staff toward me and an explosion occurred next to my head. I gave a slight yelp, but I hoped that no one heard it. I didn't want to give Seraph the satisfaction of scaring me. Apparently Seraph did not have complete control over her abilities.

"Let these people go and do not harm Mornedra, so you may have my kingdom." Devi said solemnly.

"I thought so." Seraph replied.

That moment, Mokuba, Seto, and I all fell down from our shackles. Devi sadly watched us leave the realm as her own wrists were chained.

"Goodbye, my friends." She waved.

Attara: How was that for a cliffhanger?

Aria: Is that the end?

Attara: No! Of course not!

Aria: Darn…is it close?

Attara: Actually…yeah, it is!

Aria: YAY!!!

Attara: Oh shut up! You know you like it!

Aria: Uh…Don't forget to review!


	19. Prisoner of the Enemy

Attara: I just got a review…that said sobs that these sobs conversations are bursts in tears POINTLESS :'(

Aria: Um...because they are? Well, if you don't like the conversations, just skip down until you see bold and underlined print that says the title, okay?

Attara: still crying

Aria: Er… Let's just start, shall we? Okay, Attara does not own Yu-Gi-Oh, which is a relief considering that she would probably kill the ratings with her cough "ideas." And last time we left off where Devi was dragged off as a prisoner of the Drenites…a different realm. Oh yeah, this chapter is in Seto Kaiba's point-of-view!

**

Prisoner of the Enemy

**

A man walked up to me and sprinkled some white powder onto each of our heads. He smirked as we were transported back to our "own pathetic dimension." At that moment, I saw something I had never expected to witness in my entire life.

Aria was crying. It was inaudible, but her shoulders shook to show that my theory was correct.

Mokuba approached her, without heeding my warnings of her explosive temper.

__

Mokuba, your heart is too pure and innocent for this world. I thought when he ignored me. I didn't mind…for now…

Suddenly, there was a loud crash. This was the first time I realized our present surroundings. We weren't on Earth as I had expected when the guard had sent us here. We were somewhere else…

Aria quickly wiped away her silent tears.

"What was that?!" She asked frantically. "Why are we in Mornedra?!"

"So this is Mornedra!" Mokuba realized excitedly.

"Calm down, Mokuba. We have to keep quiet." She grabbed him and dragged Mokuba behind some sort of shrub. "Get over here, Kaiba!" She ordered me.

"No, thank you…" I said. No one was going to boss me around without telling me what was going on.

Aria rolled her eyes. "Just get over here." She seemed a bit agitated, but anxious to hide from someone…or some_thing_.

Before I could retort, she ran out and pulled me next to Mokuba.

"Next time you stall, I will burn you to a crisp." She threatened.

"I'd like to see you try-" I was interrupted by the sound of wings.

Aria covered my mouth with her hand.

"Shut up!" She whispered the moment the noise subsided.

"What was…?" I ignored her command.

"Drenites…" She growled as she peered through the bush. "They must be taking over the castle…"

"But why are there wings?"

"Because they ride dragons, idiot."

I glared at her, but restrained myself from doing anything since, now, we were in a different dimension…where people spoke different languages, and, for the first time in my life, I had no idea how to get home, or how to protect Mokuba.

"Now what do we do?" I asked her.

"We find Clef." She stood up.

"And he is…?"

"At the castle… We'll have to run there…"

She took off and motioned for us to follow her.

"How are we going to out run dragons?" I yelled after her.

"I know a shortcut!"

Mokuba was already running after her.

__

Might as well go, too. I thought and quickened my pace.

Soon, with many twists and turns through other strange-looking shrubs, we came upon a large gate. Aria slammed her entire palm against the door bell.

"Come on, come on, answer it!" She panicked as we heard the sounds of wings growing louder. "Come ON!" She screamed.

I cautioned Mokuba to hide behind a bush (or something) before they could come. Aria ran behind it as well. Before long, the dragons arrived. I scoffed as they rang the doorbell as well.

"What kind of an invasion is this?" I muttered.

"The kind that will result in the Drenites losing." Aria spat. "Come on, we'll go somewhere else…"

She started to retreat to the opposite direction of the castle.

"Now where are we going?" I sped after her.

"You'll see…"

I looked over my shoulder to check on Mokuba. I smiled slightly—he had fallen asleep amidst the excitement. Without even thinking I picked him up and soon was just behind Aria.

Suddenly, she came into an abrupt stop. She put her hand up, signifying for me to not move. Aria quietly walked up to a shanty and slowly knocked on the door three times. I didn't think that Mornedraians had to knock on doors…

The door opened just enough to see a green eye peer at the visitor. Aria whispered something to it and the person invited her into the poorly built home.

I sighed and sat down while waiting for her to come back out. Mokuba moved into a more comfortable position on my overcoat after I spread it on the ground…

"Get up, you lazy bonehead!" I opened my eyes just in time to see Aria ready to dump a bucket of water onto my face. I quickly moved aside so the cold liquid would just mix with the unusually black soil.

"Watch it!" I yelled.

"Serves you right for falling asleep."

I looked around.

"Where's my brother?" I panicked.

"He's safe at the mansion." She shrugged.

My muscles relaxed. _Mokuba's safe._ Were the only thoughts that flashed across my mind.

"Listen, we have two options: stay here and camp out, or try to get to Drena as soon as possible." Aria sighed.

"We're doing neither." I spat.

"So you're going to let your own wife die?" She asked angrily.

"Devi's not my wife."

"Yes, she is."

"No, she isn't…Liana _was_."

"Ha! Well, Devi is Liana."

"What are you talking about?!"

"Okay, idiot, let me explain it to you more slowly: LIANA IS THE VESSEL FOR DEVI WHILE SHE WAS IN THE TRANSPORTATIONAL DIMENSION!" Aria told me as if I was a moron.

I glared at Aria. _How stupid can a person get?_ I asked myself.

She rolled her eyes. "You know, we're not going to get anywhere if we don't start moving!!"

"I already told you, I'm not going!"

"Listen, do you like Mokuba?" I could tell a scheme was forming in her thick head.

"Of course I do, and if you lay a finger on him, you'll wish that you were never born!"

"Ha, what are you going to do?" She taunted.

"If I told you, then it would ruin the fun."

"Oh, well, just to feed my curiosity, I think I'll just get Mokuba and find out what happens first hand."

I could tell she was going to take us somewhere when she reached into her pocket and pulled out a pouch of white powder. She took a handful, winked at me, and blew it into my face.

"Stay away from Mokuba." 

I blacked out.

Attara: still crying

Aria: puts head in handsHow did I get stuck doing this? clears throat Okay, don't forget to review!!


	20. Destruction's Will

Attara: with tear-stained faceA-All right…I-I've s-stopped c-crying…

Aria: That's a relief.

Attara: O-Okay, l-let's s-start…

Aria: Erm…I think I should do it since it takes so long for the crybaby to say three words. All right, Attara does not own Yu-Gi-Oh, which is another relief since she'd make everyone all fluffy…possibly even gayer than…ugh…TÉA! Well, last time we left off where Seto blacked out. Oh, and, this chapter is in Devi's point of view…

**

Destruction's Will

**

This was not the stereotypical prison in the human world… It had bars, yes, but it also had another shield of magic surrounding the bars. I've been contemplating on how to break through the shield, since destroying the bars was quite a simple task… After all, it wasn't as if I was completely helpless. Hmph, Aria had forced me to take a small dagger in place of my loss of power. It had easily cut through the weak bars. It wasn't my ideal way of spending three months of my now mortal life.

Aria and I have a connection…it's not magical, more like a sibling's bond. That was how I sensed her…close to the prison…

I saw the magical shield around me flicker…and it slowly died out, like a power failure. I quickly reached for my weapon and cut enough bars so I could easily fit through it without being scraped. It was interesting to say that there were no guards surrounding me, so I guess that Seraph assumed that I was a weakling…

I grabbed the black blanket and covered myself, to create at least a small amount of camouflage as I sneaked through the dark corridors. I peered into every room without revealing my presence…until I found a chamber that contained two figures chained to the wall. They were struggling to break free, but to no avail. Another feminine figure was unconscious on the floor. Two guards rushed into the room from a different entrance and carried her away.

I dashed into the room.

"Aria? Seto?" I asked.

Both of them raised their faces.

"She dragged me along…" Seto growled.

"Hi, Devi!" Aria greeted me excitedly…apparently forgetting that she was still chained down.

I used my weapon two break their manacles.

"What did you do to Seraph?" I asked as I cut through the chains.

"Oh, I knocked her out with a rock." Aria shrugged casually and rubbed her wrists.

Quietly, Aria whispered Clef's name and instantly, he appeared. 

"My queen! Mornedra has been chaotic without you!" Clef said gratefully. "Come with me immediately, my queen. A number of us have gone into Greda to overthrow the king."

"What's Greda?" Aria asked.

"It's the dimension created for the souls of Mornedraians who await for the time their mortal being on Earth arrives. We've been in Greda before, when we were waiting for Liana to die." I answered.

"Oh, but why is that such a good hiding place?"

"That dimension has the closest boundary between the two realms without opening a portal, so the magical signal is scattered around it, preventing anyone from tracking a person down while they are there." 

"We best be leaving now." Clef chimed in.

"Okay, Aria and Seto, make sure that you hold onto Clef when he gets us out of here."

Aria nodded in agreement, but Seto seemed a little unsure of what was going on. Nevertheless, he held onto Clef's shoulder. Immediately, a white sparkle encompassed all of us. We came upon the familiar realm of gray color and vortexes.

The search commenced. After a couple of hours, we found a group of people cheering and yelling enthusiastically. The leader of the group seemed to have been encouraging the followers to rebel against the new rulers of Mornedra and to rescue me.

"Listen to me, rebels, we must follow the strict orders of the queen in order to succeed in overthrowing the wretched rulers of Mornedra." Clef spoke.

"Thank you, Clef. We don't have much time before the Drenites realize that I have gone, so we must act quickly. As I have observed over the last few months, Queen Seraph does not have full control of her power. We must take that to our advantage. Her direth holds a great deal of her power, so someone must steal the stone as soon as possible. With our combined power, we might be able to beat her, or at least part this wretched, mortal life trying." I ordered.

We entered the portal that transported them to Drena. When all of us had reached the castle, we saw the king…abusing Seraph.

"I can't believe you let them leave!" he exclaimed.

"I'm sorry, my lord. Please accept my apologies!" Seraph cried.

"I have tried so hard to support you, and this is how you thank me?!"

"I'm so sorry."

"Get out of my sight, you filthy animal."

The guards took Seraph away. 

"She got what was coming to her." Aria whispered.

"Aria! She is I." I reminded.

"Sorry. I forgot about that."

"Well, it looks like we have a new target--the king."

"Let's move!" Aria ordered.

The group of people sneaked into the chambers of Seraph.

"What are you doing here?!" demanded Seraph when she saw us.

"We've come to save you." Aria said.

"I don't need saving."

"Yes you do. We saw you getting hit by the king."

"You did? Well, it was my fault I let you go in the first place."

"Why don't you try and capture us now?"

"There's no point."

"Just come with us."

"No. I shall stay loyal to my king. He is far wiser than I am. Besides, I have no hope of obtaining a higher rank than this."

"No, he's not wiser than you! He is keeping you within the castle walls."

"…I didn't know."

"I have said it before, and I will say it again. Come with us."

"No."

"Very well, you shall die with them when we take down the castle."

"It would be an honorable death."

Aria was greatly disappointed in Seraph's behavior, so she knocked Seraph unconscious to drag her to Mornedra, but not yet. We hurried to the king's chambers. I was the first to confront him.

"Surrender, or we shall exterminate your life." I said confidently.

"No!" He answered, probably thinking that I was Seraph.

"NOW!" Aria yelled.

The group of rebels came out of their hiding places, grinning at their advantage. At first, their attacks were producing great effects, but the king slowly gained his advantage when the rebels were tiring out while he was still quite strong. I immediately called for my staff. Clef presented it to me with a puzzled look.

"What…?" He whispered.

"You'll see."

I looked at the gleaming direth on my staff. It sparkled in the light of the fire. I knew that the direth could hold power, but could it inflict damage with the power it with held? A thought crept into my mind. 

I watched the attacks of the tiny army that had consisted of loyal Mornedraians who had believed in my return. Quickly, I shoved the staff in front of the king, just in time to absorb their magic attacks. I saw that their faces expressed a countenance of surprise. They must think that I have betrayed them… I ignored their stares of newly formed anger.

"Why did you stop attacking?" I asked.

Aria had grinned and continued to assail the king. Ah, Aria, the loyal one… Many people then followed in her example.

This was the time to try out my experiment. The worse that could happen was that I would be hit by the magic that was absorbed, but it was for a greater cause, right? I aimed the direth toward the king and closed my eyes as a blinding beam streamed out of the stone.

"NO!" I heard Aria cry out.

Someone had grabbed my wrist and teleported me somewhere. When I finally opened my eyes, we were in Greda.

"Why aren't we in Drena?" I interrogated.

All of the rebels' expressions were solemn and full of grief.

"I-I shouldn't have…" Aria trailed off.

"You shouldn't have what?"

"I…she…it was too…" She stuttered.

I grabbed her shoulders.

"What happened, Aria?"

"Seraph's…she's…dead."

"That can't be true! She was unconscious!" I blindly denied.

"I don't know what happened! I was watching her, but then I saw that you needed help, so I left… I'm so sorry, Devi. Please forgive me! I'm so sorry!" I could tell she was nearly crying, which wasn't a scene that happened very often.

"There were Mornedraian immigrants in Drena…" I whispered. "Families…"

Attara: Now how sad was that?

Aria: I can't believe you made me do that!!

Attara: Well, I had to somehow stop me from crying, so I just made you look a tad bit worse!

Aria: All you cried for was because these stupid conversations are pointless! You made me murder a gazillion people!

Attara: Yeah…well…

Aria: groans Now do you expect me to make people review?

Attara: Yes, since I know you want to be with Yami, right?

Aria: Fine then… Please review this incredibly cruel chapter.

Attara: Oh yeah, the next chapter is the last! 


	21. Recovery

Attara: Okay, it's the time you've all been waiting for!

Aria: This fic's finally going to end!!

Attara: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! Last time we left off where Aria destroyed the realm of Drena. Oh, and this chapter is still in Devi's point of view!

**

Recovery

**

One step, two steps, three steps, four steps… I walked onto my white marble balcony and kept my eyes concentrated on the floor. There, in front of the golden rail, stood countless amount of people that stretched as far as my eyes could see, which was quite far, considering that I was magical and all that. But, of course, these were the residents of the realm of Mornedra, and a realm is pretty large.

The good news: I had regained my magic. The bad news: a realm has disappeared from space and time along with many innocent people.

"Good morning, my Mornedraians." I began.

Some of them winced when they had heard my voice. Their thoughts bombarded my mind and through that, I felt their anger. _I hate you, Seraph! What did you do to our queen? I will never bow to you!_ And other similar outbursts were sent into my senses. I held my head. It's more painful than you'd think since I'm used to only having a couple hundred people thinking around me…maximum! But this was just too much.

"I am Queen Devi. I feel you have great doubts of my claim, but it is true." I spoke when I felt the multiple brain waves overwhelming my mind. "And to prove it, I shall show you…" I summoned my staff. 

The direth was still unharmed although it had reflected immense power just several hours ago. It gleamed in the morning sun. The crowd whispered at the sight. Several seconds had passed when they decided that I was truly Devi. They bowed before me. I nodded as I felt the anger gradually cease.

"We are no longer slaves to those barbarians, and it will never happen again. Unfortunately, there has been…an accident. The kingdom of Drena has been destroyed under stressful circumstances, and we must honor those innocent citizens who have sacrificed their lives for us, although it was unintentional."

There was silence, a solemn silence that could sadden anyone…with feelings.

"Clef?" I turned to my right.

"Yes, my queen?"

"Dismiss them after the news has sunk in."

"As you wish, your highness."

I quietly exited the balcony, which led to my room, and I descended the spiral staircase. I felt my long cape sweep the carpeted marble steps. It's the little things that you miss when you're gone, isn't it? 

I could see Aria still a bit melancholy and Seto staring at the floor, apparently in deep thought.

"It's all right, Aria." I whispered with feigned sympathy.

She looked up with brown eyes that contrasted mine so minutely, but had altered each of our appearances so greatly.

"I killed so many undeserving people." She said as if in a trance.

"No, Seraph did." I said firmly.

"But I had not been watching her very well."

"She would have killed you."

Aria kept silent. I sighed.

"Just remember that it wasn't your fault. So, now what are we supposed to do?" I said in a louder tone so Seto would snap out of his reverie.

He looked and narrowed his icy blue eyes.

"I've wasted enough time here. Take me to Earth." He growled.

"Very well, Seto Kaiba." I allowed. "Come, Aria."

She nodded slowly and stood up.

"Let's go." She murmured.

How long has it been since Drena was annihilated--about two weeks?

I smiled. It was not long ago when Aria was finally convinced that the destruction of Drena was not her fault. Now, there had to be some changes made. We were in the Game Shop after school, but we had not exactly been invited. Although that was true, Aria's presence wasn't the most forbidden company. 

I was watching her creep up behind Yami. Tiptoeing across the room without making the tiniest noise. That's what she was doing. Her face glowed with happiness and excitement. Aria reached out and covered Yami's violet eyes.

"Guess who." She whispered into his ear.

"C-could it be?" Yami was a bit startled and a similar happiness lit up his face as well.

"I'm back…"

Yami reached out to gently remove Aria's pale hands from his eyes, blinked several times, and turned around. This was done in less than a second's time.

"Aria?!" His tone had shown an expression of a happy surprise.

"Now what kind of guessing is that, you cheater!" Aria giggled.

"Aria!"

"Yes, I think we've established that!" Then, Aria seemed to realize that through this excitement, she forgot her place. "Oh, my highest apologies, King Yami." She said immediately and tilted her head in respect.

"You still love me?"

"Of course I do. It's just that sometimes…we have to choose our priorities… I'm sorry, my pharaoh."

That's when I turned away and exited the shop. They needed a time to be alone, right? After all, _I_ was the reason why they hadn't joined after five milleniums…

Attara: Sorry that was such a short chapter, but there's not much else to talk about without revealing what small idea I'm going to do in the sequel.

Aria: Yami!

Attara: Yes, yes, Yami was there and now you two are a couple again.

Aria: Yami!

Attara: I know!

Aria: Yami!

Attara: Ugh… All right, then. Please review, because if you don't, then I will not produce the sequel, and I just know you're dying to see what happens next!!! By the way, the next story will be shorter than this since I don't have any ideas right now…and…if you happen to give me ANY suggestion, I'll be happy to extend it longer since I can't really think on my feet. But if you can't suggest anything, don't worry about it! The only problem is that we'll have a short sequel, that's all! Ooh, by the way, I'm going to write a biography about Seto Kaiba, and if anyone has any pointers, please give them to me! I need to know any and all information since I have to watch the stupid dubbed television shows, which makes Yami and Malik sound so yucky! Well, please tell me any information, okay? Thanks! ^_^


End file.
